Just Like Royalty
by Magical-Tear
Summary: Fuji Kikyo's world is turned upside down when the nickname her father liked to call her spread around Seigaku like the plage, endangering her friendship with the Regulars and a certain tennis prodigy. Now she'll have to act just like royalty...RyomaxOC
1. Prologue: The Lonely Prelude

**_A/N: _**I know I'm just throwing out random stories, instead of simply continuing with one and completing it, but I just can't help myself! XD This fanfic will be of my forever-favorite anime and manga Prince Of Tennis (Tenisu no Oujisama)! 3 I'll be trying to make the characters seem more human in this story, seeing as the anime has lots of fantasy in it ^^U I hope you enjoy this story as well~! =D

_**Disclaimer: **_Prince Of Tennis rightfully belongs to Takeshi Konomi, I by no means own anything of the original plot or characters. What I _do_ own, however, are the small plot twists and any OC that may appear.

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**-xox-Prologue: The Lonely Prelude-xox-**

"Absolutely not! She can't!" Different voices exclaimed at the same time, their tone varying depending on their emotions: anger, fear, worry…None of those are good things to feel, at least to me.

If some stranger came and saw this picture, he would think we are a broken family. In the living room, my siblings and mother were discussing with two cell phones. My father was on one line. He is currently living in England because of his work, and I haven't seen him since our last vacations. The other line was being used by an old family friend, Ryuzaki Sumire. She is a tennis coach, and right now, one of the causes for this commotion.

_I am__ the other cause._

I am Fuji Kikyo, the younger sibling of the Fuji family, and I'm not supposed to be here. Hiding in the upper part of the wooden stairs, I am trying to catch a glimpse of the conversation taking place in the room to my right, in the first floor. It's a bit past 7:00 am here in Tokyo, meaning that it is about 11:00 pm where my dad is. Apparently, Ryuzaki-sensei had everything calculated…

This had all started when she called a few minutes ago, saying that she had registered me in the Kakinokizaka Tennis Tournament. I know she did so with the intention of helping me, seeing as this was the first time I was entering a tennis tournament after almost a year. I was excited, but my family did not think the same.

Last year, I sprained my left foot while playing basketball in school. The injury had been so bad that the doctor told me not to do any sport until it was completely healed, otherwise I would have to stop playing tennis forever. I stopped using the crutches a long time ago, but my family is still worried about me. They allowed me to keep a light practice schedule, but they don't want me playing a whole set with anyone. Imagine how this announcement of a _tournament_ made them feel.

My big brother, Fuji Syusuke, was the first one to disagree. He has always been overprotective of me, and he would not dare risk my condition like that. My older sister, Yumiko, defended me instead. She knew that my foot had healed enough for me to start playing again and said that I would end up getting into a strong depression if they tried to keep me away from tennis any longer. Unfortunately, my mother Yoshiko sided up with Syusuke. She was as worried as any mother would be for their daughter and, not being able to decide without help, she had dialed my father and told him the situation. He totally agreed with Syusuke and my mother, leaving the teams divided 3 versus 3.

The discussion had then started, the phones being changed to speaker mode for better communication. I was sent upstairs to my room, probably to give more privacy to the adults. Obviously curious, I had sneaked out and sat on the stairs, hidden by the living room's wall, to hear their decision for my future…my dreams.

"We're sorry Sumire-san, but that's our final word," my father said sternly, making Ryuzaki-sensei sigh in the other phone.

"Hideaki-san, you can't claim victory this soon. We can't even put this matter into voting!" Ryuzaki-sensei joked, remembering him that we had an even number in our so called 'teams'.

"MY DAUTHER'S HEALTH WILL NOT BE PUT INTO VOTING!" My father's voice resounded through the house, making me to flinch in fear. He could be pretty scary when he was angry.

"And you know why's that, right Fuji-kun?" She asked calmly, this time talking to my brother.

He had been quiet for a long time now, probably thinking about something, and she had clearly noticed it too. Silence followed for quite some time, and I could imagine everyone staring at my brother as he kept his gaze solely on the cell phones. "I'm going to call Yuuta," he finally said, leaving the rest of the family frozen.

In all their bickering, they had forgotten to ask my other brother's opinion on the matter; the deciding vote. He was currently living in St. Rudolph's boarding school, after a few misunderstandings with the rest of the family. See what I meant about _looking_ like a broken family?

I hugged my knees up to my chest in an attempt to make me smaller once my brother walked out of the living room, heading to the phone resting on a small table in the hallway. Fortunately, he didn't notice me as he pressed some numbers and waited for Yuuta to answer his call, turning so that his back faced the stairs. I watched him quietly as he started to talk, explaining the whole situation to our brother. However, in almost no time at all, Yuuta started yelling at my brother through the phone, clearly mad.

"_YOU CAN'T GO AROUND TELLING PEOPLE WHAT THEY CAN AND CANNOT DO! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DENY TENNIS TO HER_!" I heard part of Yuuta's rant through the phone. I was surprised that he was siding up with me now after being so cold towards everyone. But his differences with Syusuke seemed to be bigger than with me.

I suddenly felt how my eyes started to sting as involuntary tears started flooding them, and my throat started to move compulsively as I tried to stop myself from crying. My head pounded painfully each time someone's voice raised a bit; my two brothers in the phone right in front of where I was sitting, my father yelling at his childhood coach again, and my sister trying to convince my mom to understand my feelings. How can it be possible that something as wonderful as tennis can create so many negative feelings?

Feeling overwhelmed by the situation, I hugged my knees closer to me and hid my face in my arms, isolating me from everyone else in the house. I could feel how the fabric of my pajama pants trembled each time a new tear fell on them, my hands gripping my elbows strongly in an attempt to reduce the shaking of my shoulders. I sniffled from time to time, trying to get more air into my lungs. I didn't want this. The last thing I needed was the whole family fighting again; it brought back painful memories. The last time they fought like this was when Yuuta wanted to change schools. This was not fair.

_Click_

The sound of the phone being placed back down told me that my two brothers had stopped their conversation. I was so lost in thought that I had not been able to hear the resolution of it. However, it was strange that I hadn't heard my brother's steps heading back into the living room.

"_Unless that…" _I thought, slowly lifting my wet face just to lock gazes with my astonished brother. He had seen me the moment he turned around to go back into the living room; his amazing blue eyes wide open in shock.

**~*~3rd Person's POV~*~**

Fuji Kikyo was not the only person in Japan that had started the day with the wrong foot. Some kilometers away from the Fuji residence, airplanes landed and took off continuously at the Narita International Airport. People rushed to and fro through the waiting rooms, waiting for either a person or plane to arrive.

The flight coming from the United States had arrived at 7:00 am, the tired passengers quickly climbing down so that they could reach their homes and hotels in time for some sleep. After picking up their luggage, everyone had gone out of the terminal to search for some means of transportation that would help them reach their destinations. Echizen Ryoma was one of them.

Coming into a stop in the waiting room, the short twelve year old scanned the whole room with his gaze, carefully searching for his dad.

_He was not there._

Sighing heavily, Ryoma walked to the nearest empty seat, resting all his bags beside him. It was incredible. Even after being reminded by his mother, his father had really forgotten to pick him up.

Lowering his white cap so that it would cover his eyes, he rested his back on the seat and waited while he heard a small group of kids playing not too far away from him.

"Honestly Oyaji…" He mumbled angrily, fishing in his short's pocket for his cell phone. Pressing the quick dial for his father's number, Ryoma waited for his call to be answered.

It would be annoying to hear all of his father's excuses, but at least he would remind him that he had arrived to Tokyo. But no one answered. His eyebrow twitched in anger as he closed the lid of his orange phone, ending the call. Great, just great…His father had forgotten his cell phone too! He doesn't forget his head just because it's attached to his body!

Placing his phone back into his pocket, he tilted his hat even further down and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the kids' shouts. He had more things to worry about at the moment.

Finding the timing perfect, his father had told him about a tennis tournament that was being held in the Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden the same day of his arrival. He had asked his former coach to register Ryoma in the Under-12 category, but the tennis prodigy had asked to be placed in the Under-16 category instead.

Ryoma had planned to head to his house first to drop off his bags, greet his mom and cousin, and sleep until it was time for him to head to the train station. However, his entire schedule was ruined by his father's lack of responsibility. In the end, he would probably just have to miss the tournament. Not liking that idea much, he pulled out his phone once more and called his father. Maybe he hadn't heard the ringtone the first time…

Another sigh. Nothing. He had really forgotten his cell phone.

Crossing his legs, Ryoma scanned the room he was in for second time that morning, this time in search of a soda machine, but obtained no results. Shifting his gaze to the laughing kids, he felt how an invisible force made pressure against his chest. It had been a long time since he had shared a real laugh with a friend, or had one to share it with for that matter.

Loneliness. That's a term he had ended up getting used to. Centering only in tennis drove the few friends he had back in the States away, seeing as it took most of his time. Winning continuously hadn't helped either. People had started to be on the defensive the whole time, looking at him coldly for being so talented. What else could they expect from someone who had dedicated solely on tennis since his childhood?

He no longer understood the purpose of having friends…how could he know when they were for real? Tennis was his passion, his only friend…No. It was not his friend; it was merely a medium to reach his ambitions. Echizen Ryoma was focused on reaching his goal and he needed no friends for that, right now he didn't need anything.

"_Then I've got nothing to lose_," he thought bitterly with a smirk.

He could be whoever he wanted and it wouldn't matter. He could do whatever he wanted and no one would care. Sure, he had his family, but everyone else does so too. It was right in that moment that Echizen Ryoma realized how lonely he really was.

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

I took in a shaky breath as a few more tears rolled down my face, not knowing what to do. I had been caught eavesdropping _and _crying, and now I was too caught up in fighting my brother mentally that I was unable to think of any excuses to safe my own skin.

"_Please, let me go. Let me go…_" I begged quietly in my mind, desperately wishing that he could read my mind just like he used to read my movements when playing tennis.

His widened eyes were slowly starting to close, making him to stare at me tenderly. An assuring smile found its way to his mouth as we kept on staring at each other, going into our own little siblings' world, away from the voices in the living room. Taking a few steps forward, he walked up the stairs and stood right in front of me, making me bring my head backwards in order to look at his face better. His expression had turned sad as he kept on looking at me, lowering a bit so that he could take my small hands in his.

"Gomen, Kikyo-chan. I forgot to see things from your point of view. Yuuta is right, I can't be manipulating your life according to my own beliefs," he whispered ashamed so that no one else heard our conversation, caressing my hands lovingly.

"N-Nii-san! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I cried happily once I realized what he was meaning, springing up to my feet and latching my arms around his neck. He chuckled softly and returned the hug, making his brown locks to tickle my left cheek.

"Now come! We need to tell the rest! Now it's only Otou-san and Okaa-san opposing!" He said happily, pulling away and sending me one of his normal close-eyed smiles.

I nodded excitedly and used the back of my hand to wipe away the wet paths my tears had left on my cheeks. He smiled at me once more and took my left hand, leading me down the stairs and into the living room, which was illuminated by the morning light. Our mom and sister turned to see us the moment we entered, and the other two on the phones seemed to be quiet too. Feeling the pressure of the moment, I squeezed my brother's hand for comfort, making him push me a bit from behind as if indicating me to talk.

"Anno…have you decided yet?" I asked nervously, my fear reducing my voice's volume a few lines.

"Yes/No!" Everyone said at the same time, making me smile nervously. I'll take that as a 'no'.

"I want to go," I pleaded them, only being able to lock gazes with my mom since my dad was almost at the other side of the world.

"Princess, we don't think it's safe," my dad tried to say calmly, making me to shift my gaze towards one of the cell phones. He liked to use that nickname for me ever since I was a kid. Only he called me that.

"That would only be you and Okaa-san," Syusuke contradicted him, making us turn towards him now. "Yuuta and I think that she should participate," he declared, gaining us some points.

"That's the only way she'll be able to mature in her game," my sister added in her two cents, nodding approvingly at my mom.

"I promise to forfeit if I don't feel well," I was quick to say before my dad said anything else. Judging by my mom's change of expression, I believe I had hit the winning spot.

"Alright, it looks like we can't do anything to change your mind…" My mom sighed, looking at us with a small smile decorating her rosy lips.

"However, Sumire-san will have to be with you at all times to make sure everything is alright," my dad finally surrendered, managing to place all responsibility on Ryuzaki-sensei in the end.

"Don't worry Hideaki, I won't take my eyes off of her," Ryuuzaki-sensei replied, and I could hear her smiling through the phone. My dad grumbled something incoherently at this, probably not liking the fact that she didn't use an honorific when naming him.

"Good luck then, Princess. Be very careful, and stay close to Sumire-san okay?" My dad said, already biding farewell. He must be very tired after the whole day of work, and it's almost 11:30 pm where he is.

"Hai! Thank you so much Otou-san!" I said happily, walking closer to the sofa where my mother and sister were sitting.

"I love you all…And I miss you! Yoshiko, can you get on the phone?" My mom got up and did as my dad had asked her to, stopping the speaker mode, before walking to the kitchen to have some privacy. My siblings smiled at me after our dad's goodbyes, but Ryuzaki-sensei cleared her throat to remind us that she was still there before they could say anything.

"Well, I'm glad everything came out as planned. I already sent my granddaughter to the train station, I don't know what she would have done if you hadn't accepted…She'll meet you there and keep you company until you arrive to where I am. I'll go pick you up at the train station and take you to the Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden so that you can check in," my dad's former coach said quickly, leaving us all in a daze. I blinked repeatedly, trying to register everything she had said.

"W-Wait…is Sakuno-chan already waiting for me at the station!" I panicked, suddenly feeling completely rude. I know I wouldn't like to wait for someone for a long time, so I've always tried to keep other people from waiting for me.

"She should be arriving in a few minutes. And you need to check in early," Ryuzaki-sensei reminded me and I nodded in understanding even though she couldn't see me. I wouldn't want to lose by default in my first tournament, not when I finally have the chance to prove myself.

"For the Under-12 category?" My brother asked his actual coach, placing his hand on my left shoulder to show me his support.

"What do you take me for? For the Under-16 category of course!" Ryuzaki-sensei boasted. I felt how my jaw almost touched the floor as I stared at the communicating device, while my siblings sent me excited smiles. "Hurry up! The train may be parting soon!" She exclaimed before hanging up, leaving us in a trance for a bit.

"Go and change quickly. We'll be waiting for you here and drive you to the station," my brother told me after he had turned me around by the shoulders in order to face him.

"Wait! I'll choose your outfit! Your horoscope says that soft colors will attract good luck!" My sister said excitedly, jumping out of her seat and taking my hand, pulling me upstairs to my room.

My brother laughed at our antics until his eyes landed on the phone in the hallway. It had been thanks to Yuuta that he had opened his eyes. If it hadn't been for him, they might have had another terrible scene in that house…

**~*~3rd Person's POV~*~**

"Why are you sad?" A tiny voice brought Ryoma out of his thoughts.

Looking down in front of him, he saw a small girl of about seven years old. Her curly golden hair reached past her shoulders, and her big chocolate-colored eyes were looking at him intently. Ryoma stared strangely at her, not actually knowing why she was talking to him.

"Don't you know how to speak?" The girl asked again, tilting her head to the right as she looked at him with worry.

"I do," Ryoma said as he blinked, not really knowing how to treat kids.

Weren't they supposed to never talk with strangers? He had never taken care of a kid before and he practically ignored the younger members of his mother's family, so he had no practice or past experiences to improvise from.

"Why are you lonely?" The girl asked him again, seeming satisfied with his answer.

"My father hasn't come yet," he mumbled as he looked off to the side. Maybe if he ignored her she would grow bored and walk away…

"That's terrible!" She exclaimed, pressing her small hands to her cheeks as she stared at him in shock. Surprised by her reaction, Ryoma stared at the short girlm completely speechless. "Don't worry, I can keep you company until he comes!" She chirped excitedly, clapping her hands at the brilliance of her idea.

"Y-You don't have t-" Ryoma tried to stop her awkwardly, but the girl had already sat Indian-style on the floor, in front of him. They kept on staring at each other without blinking, almost as if having a staring contest, until the girl spoke again.

"Your eyes are pretty," she smiled, making Ryoma to become even more confused.

He knew that his eye color wasn't common, golden brown and olive depending on the light, but almost no one had told him so. Looking off to the side again, he remembered that his mother always returned every compliment the younger kids made her, so he decided to follow her example in this desperate situation.

"Yours too," he mumbled quietly, closing his eyes and resting his back on the chair once more.

"T-Thank you…" The girl blushed heavily, looking down as she made invisible circles with her finger on the dark blue rug decorating the waiting room's floor. Ryoma stared owlishly at this, finding it strange that she had suddenly turned so shy. "What's that for?" She asked quickly, trying to get out of the uncomfortable silence. Ryoma followed her small pointing finger until his eyes landed on his black racquet holder.

"Tenisu rakketo," he said in a monotone, unconsciously speaking in Japanese. The girl stared at him in confusion for a bit, until she finally understood the words he had spoken.

"You speak funny!" The girl giggled, making Ryoma's mouth to hang open a bit. He had finally noticed that they had been talking in English the whole time, meaning that the girl was probably a tourist. "Are you playing soon?" She asked curiously, her eyes never leaving Ryoma's.

"I have a tournament in a few hours…" He admitted, a bit uncomfortable at giving so much information to this stranger.

"Cool! I wish I was able to see you! It is hard to play? I'm too small to try…" She said excitedly, unaware of the light blush that had appeared on her cheeks once more. Ryoma inspected her form quickly, not being able to understand how someone could be 'too small' for tennis.

"Megan! There you are!" A young woman sighed in relief, bending down and picking up the small girl that looked to be her clone. "I apologize. Did she cause you much trouble?" The mom asked Ryoma nervously, sending him a small smile as she wondered if the green-haired boy could understand her.

"Not really…" He mumbled, feeling completely awkward in this situation. He was so going to kill his father for this once he saw him again.

"Look mommy! He plays tennis!" The girl, apparently named Megan, told her mother excitedly, pointing over at his racquet holder to prove her point.

"That's great honey!" The mother smiled. "Thank you very much for taking care of her!" She then turned to Ryoma before starting to walk away.

"Goodbye! And good luck in your game!" Megan waved goodbye at him, making him to finally realize something as he stared at her retreating form.

Looking down at the hour in his phone's screen, he stood up and gathered up his things. Who was he kidding? He wasn't going to miss that tournament just because of his lazy father!

Spotting the closest information module, he headed that way to ask for the trains he would have to take in order to get to the Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden. He even thought about sending his luggage to his house via mail. Who would have thought that a strange girl like Megan would have made him open his eyes like that? There was no backing up now, his father would have to wait for him back home, and he couldn't care less for how long.


	2. Chapter 1: The Royalty Appears!

**_A/N: _**I wanted to thank all of you who added this story to your Favorite Story list or Story Alert even if I had only written a chapter, and specially the ones who reviewed =D It makes me really happy, and gives me inspiration to keep on writing ^^ Also, if you find any mistakes please tell me so that I can correct them and improve! The next chapter is going to take a bit longer since school is bombarding me with homework =A= But I already started it! So I'll do my best! I'm happy you're liking it so far!=D

**_Disclaimer: _**Prince of Tennis (Tenisu no Oujisama) rightfully belongs to Takeshi Konomi. I only own my Original Characters and the small plot twists.

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**-xox-Chapter 1: The Royalty Appears!-xox-**

**~Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden~**

_Smack. Smack. Smack._

The morning air was heavy with tension at the tennis courts, the tournament, which would be taking place in few hours, having an obvious effect on everyone. People of all ages had started to arrive at the destination, eager to know what would happen next. There were some spectators who had arrived early to cheer for their competitor of choice and most of the players had already started warming up on their own, too restless to stay at home and sleep a few more hours.

_Smack. Smack. Smack._

"Hey, did you hear? There's a pair of 12 year old grade scholars in the Under-16 tournament!" A teen with short brown hair ran into the court where his friend was hitting some balls, quite shocked after having seen the score board.

"You're lying right? They must've registered wrong," his older friend with glasses replied, stopping his practice and picking up the scattered balls with his dark green racquet.

"I'm not kidding," the brown haired teen whined, taking a hold of his friend and dragging him over to the registration table.

"It…it doesn't make any sense!" The teen with glasses stuttered, perfectly reading the names on the white board.

**47 Ishii Abare**

**(Yamahigashi High - age 16)**

**_Vs._**

**48 Echizen Ryoma**

**(Free - age 12)**

**49 Chuutamari Seiji**

**(Sakura High - age 16)**

**_Vs._**

**50 Fuji Kikyo**

**(Free - age 12)**

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

I yawned softly as I held the poster Sakuno was handing me, being careful of not bending it. I had learned that Sakuno needed to make a tennis presentation for school on Monday as her homework for summer vacation. That was why she was coming with me to the Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden, as her grandmother had told me. I had arrived in time to take the train with her thanks to my siblings driving me to the station and because the train Sakuno was in had been delayed.

I sighed as I scanned over the white poster, reading the incomplete information and checking out the drawings. I believe it was a good idea to write everything with pencil first, that way she would be able to make corrections in case she needed to.

"It would be better if you showed a few photos of the moves you're going to explain. The drawings are pretty well drawn too! Just remember that the important parts are the limbs, so don't worry about the faces too much…Oh! And color the arrows that show which direction the balls are spinning to with dark colors, not light," I gave her some advices, centering in the visuals for the moment.

"R-Right! Thank you very much, Kikyo-san," she mumbled formally, leaning to the side in order to see the poster as well.

That burst my bubble.

It was as if an invisible hook had suddenly grabbed on to me and pulled me down to reality. The fact that Sakuno still added "-san" at the end of my name instead of "-chan" reminded me of the fact that she didn't think of me as her friend. I was barely a person she knew from school, who was now keeping her company in the train. Her real best friend was Osakada Tomoka, and they've known each other since elementary school, I believe.

"Don't worry about it!" I chirped, hiding my depressing thoughts with a sweet smile and shifting my gaze to the poster so that I could read the information. "Here you have a mistake," I pointed out, making Sakuno to lean further in order to read what she had written.

"The grips…?" She asked confused, tilting her head to the side as she read the description of the grips and the drawings she had made of each one of them, not actually finding the problem.

"Un!" I nodded confidently, pointing exactly at the mistake with my slender finger. "You see, the-" I started to explain, but a loud voice suddenly made me stop.

We looked up just to see a tall boy with light brown hair that reached about his shoulders, dressed in a tanned uniform with an aqua colored necktie. He was surrounded by his friends, holding out his light blue racquet as he boasted proudly.

"You idiots still don't know the rules for gripping!" Said boy had laughed, not even trying to hide the fact that he was insulting his friends. "If you want to do top-spins, you use the Western grip. It's done by holding the racquet like if you're going to shake someone's hand. Here!" He yelled arrogantly, swinging his racquet carelessly and hitting the poster out of my hands, sending it sliding to the floor.

I yelped and retracted my hands, barely avoiding being hit by the racquet. Unbeknownst to me, the boy sitting right in front of us woke up because of my alarmed scream, sitting up-straight so that he could see what was happening. I sighed and dived to retrieve the poster, quickly dodging the racquet once more before it took off my nose.

"Please, stop playing with the racquets in here. What if you hit others?" I told them softly, looking up at them once I was sitting next to Sakuno again. I silently passed the poster back to her, not breaking eye contact with the older boy even if I could feel my hands and knees shaking nervously.

"It didn't hit you anyways. What are you grumbling about?" The loud boy glared down at me, making me to stare at him unbelievingly.

I could feel my cheeks starting to turn red as my courage crashed down, feeling myself caught and helpless under the older boy's small brown eyes. I pressed my lips together as I finally diverted my dark blue orbs to my knees, feeling like a complete idiot for keeping quiet. I could even feel my speeding heart pulsing on my throat.

"As expected of Sasabe-sama, the ace of the Kitagoe Tennis Club!" One of the boys standing in the middle of the train kept on praising the arrogant one, making him to forget about me and turn back to their group.

"Stupid, is common sense," the boy I now knew was named Sasabe bragged on, starting to swing his racquet incorrectly once more.

He eventually hit the poster out of Sakuno's hands too, but it flew farther away this time. She humped and went to grab it just like I had done, but the unstopping motion of the racquet made her sit down again to avoid being hit on the face.

I could only watch as the racquet came closer to the bridge of her nose with each swing, her low whimpers being her only mean of communication since she had shut her eyes closed and her voice seemed to be stuck in her throat because of fear. I looked around desperately for any kind of help, but everyone seemed to have no trouble in ignoring us.

"_You're being useless Kikyo! Don't just sit there gawking! Open your mouth! Speak!"_ I shouted in my mind, trying to push away my shyness. How would I be able to go against three boys who were at least four years older than me! I took a deep breath and opened my mouth, however, someone beat me to it before any sound managed to come out of it.

"Hey, can't you keep it down?" A bored voice reached my ears without raising itself, being able to shut down the loud voices without any effort.

Everything seemed to stay still while the three boys, Sakuno, and I turned to see the short kid sitting in front of us. Well, who am I to speak? I'm probably the same height as him, maybe even shorter. The boy had dark green hair which was being covered by a white baseball cap, with a red R on the front, which was covering his eyes too; a red and pink jacket, black shorts, and white tennis shoes of the same brand as his cap. Resting by his side was his black racquet holder, allowing me to guess that he was going to participate in the Kakinokizaka Tennis Tournament too.

As if on cue, the train hit a bump and sent Sasabe stumbling a few steps forward, dropping his racquet in the process. Sakuno gasped when he stepped on her poster while he tried to regain his balance, quickly standing and picking it up before it got ripped to pieces.

"Heh, I can't believe I just got told off by a grade-schooler…" The light brown haired boy mumbled while he bent down to pick up his racquet.

I knew that the boy wearing a cap was following his every movement even though his eyes were hidden, probably because I was doing so too. By my side, Sakuno was too busy checking her poster that she seemed not to notice what was going on around her.

"Bingo~" The boy with the white cap suddenly said in a sing-song voice. "Holding the upper part of the racquet and clamping it, that's the correct Western grip," he kept on instructing the older boy, pointing lazily at the current grip Sasabe had on his racquet.

"What?" Sasabe asked, whipping around to glare at the younger boy. Judging by his expression, he couldn't believe his ears.

"Oh yeah, the handshake grip you were referring to is called the Eastern grip," my sweet voice floated in the train compartment, surprising even myself.

The senior turned his head to look at me quickly, shock painted all over his face. I sent him an innocent look, the thought of being supported by someone else giving me enough courage to lock gazes with him again.

"It's common for people to learn it the opposite way," the other boy finished for me with a small smirk on his lips, leaning back on his seat and holding his hands behind his head to show that the talking was over.

"I hope you understand your mistake now, Sakuno-chan," I turned and smiled over at her, her quick blinking telling me that she didn't understand what I was talking about. I giggled and sent her a close-eyed smile, pointing at the slightly bent poster resting on her lap.

She unfolded it carefully and read her information again, gasping once she found the mistake she had made. Embarrassing enough, she had committed the same mistake as Sasabe: she mistook the 'Western Grip' for the 'Easter Grip'.

At that moment, the train arrived at the next station and the doors opened with a sweet sound once it came to a complete stop. The boy sitting in front of us stood up and left through the door, not even bothering to turn and look at the older boys who were still standing in the middle of the train. I stood up as well and grabbed Sakuno by the hand, pulling her up and taking her with me as I followed the boy out; my long lavender colored hair pulled up in two pigtails floating behind me.

"Hey, you! Wait!" Sasabe suddenly called out to us, finally being able to come up with something rude to say.

"We better get off too!" One of his friends that had short black hair suddenly yelled while pushing him by the back, out of the train before the automatic doors closed. They looked around, trying to find us again but to no avail, a colorful ocean of heads spreading all around them.

**-xox-**

"Jeez, Grandma is late even though she's the one who told us to come here on time," Sakuno said, glancing down at her wristwatch once more.

I couldn't blame her; Ryuzaki-sensei was already ten minutes late. People said that Englishmen were very strict when it came to punctuality, but something I've learned here is that Japanese people are just the same…maybe even worse.

We were currently waiting by one of the station's pillars, my white racquet holder and her blue purse resting on the floor against it. I've always admired her sense for fashion, mostly because she could combine her clothes unconsciously. Today she was wearing a cute pink sweater over her pink top, a short sky blue skirt and brown shoes with white stockings. Of course, her purse was the perfect touch.

I sighed and looked down at my clothes, a simple tennis outfit: white tennis skirt, a Puma white polo shirt with light pink lining, and my white tennis shoes.

"Gomen, Kikyo-san, for making you wait," Sakuno's voice brought me out of my thoughts. I turned to see her bowing slightly in my direction, her long brown braids falling to frame her face.

"It's alright, we still have time," I smiled sheepishly at her as a sweat drop slid down the back of my head. It was clear that she had misunderstood my actions and thought I was growing tired of waiting.

"I'll call Obaa-chan to make her hurry up," she mumbled, bending down to pick up her purse in order to search for her phone.

"Alright, I'm going to look at that map over there while you do that," I smiled, pointing at the map of train routes behind me.

As I stared curiously at the map, I tried to take deep breaths to calm down my nerves. I had to convince myself that everything was going to be alright, or it would be worst for my current fear. I was going to make it on time, I _knew_ it.

I finally decided to center my attention solely on the map that showed every train station here in Tokyo, completely amused with the wavering lines that ran in between each point, supposing to be the trains' routes. However, I got bored after a good five minutes, and miraculously found a soda machine not too far away once I had looked around.

I pulled out some change from my skirt's pocket as I was walking towards the red machine, placing the necessary amount in it once I reached it. My finger scanned through the different types of drinks, finally finding the one I was looking for. I pressed the small white button and the metallic sound of a can falling soon followed. I bent down and picked up the white and purple can, opened it up carefully, and took a big gulp from it thirstily. I shivered slightly as the bubbles brushed against my tongue, which caught the sweet and unique flavor of grape that only a Ponta could have.

**~*~Sakuno's POV~*~**

I watched how Kikyo-san walked towards the huge map, but frowned and closed my eyes after a few seconds as I waited for my grandma to pick up her phone. Apparently I waited in vane because she never picked up.

Honestly, how could Grandma leave us waiting here? What if Kikyo-san was already late for her match? This whole trip would have been in vain, and Kikyo-san might not get permission to play again…

"Hey, do you know where the Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden is?" A familiar voice spoke in front of me. I opened my eyes and confirmed that my assumptions had been true.

"Ah, you're from the train!" I exclaimed while pointing at the green haired boy, completely forgetting that it was considered rude to point at someone. I eventually realized it and lowered my arm, holding my hands in front of me like I usually did. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm also going to the Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden. Are you playing? This is my first time watching tennis!" I explained, giving him a close-eyed smile.

"So, where is it?" He asked again, looking at me with confusion decorating his face.

I suddenly forgot where I was standing, or why I was even there to begin with, since I was finally able to see that the eyes of this stranger who had saved us in the train were of a perfect olive color.

"Ah, I'm sorry…you use the south exit and go straight," I finally came back to reality, blushing in embarrassment once I realized my tongue had slipped out of control again.

"South exit? Thanks," he replied with his monotone voice.

I followed him with my gaze as he walked past me and to the door. I found his name beneath the R on the side of his black racquet sheath, which was hanging from his right shoulder: E. Ryoma.

"_Ryoma…he's Ryoma-kun,_" I thought, blushing slightly.

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

I sighed as I scanned the crowded station, searching for some entertainment as I waited for Ryuzaki-sensei. Up above, hanging from the ceiling, a white banner showed off its colorful letters: KAKINOKIZAKA TENNIS GARDEN REGISTERING STUDENTS NOW!

I shifted my dark blue orbs back to my Ponta, not liking the reminder of the quickly vanishing time. Mocking banners were the last thing I needed today. Sakuno wasn't trying to get in contact with her grandmother anymore and by the look on her face she was daydreaming about something. I wonder if she has a boyfriend…that would explain the deep blush painting her face.

I smiled sadly as a flashback of my class last year suddenly assaulted me. I was in the same class as the auburn haired girl and her best friend Tomoka and yet we never crossed a word.

I could never understand how everyone accepted Sakuno easily even with her shyness, not taking in consideration her loud and scary friend. Even though she hardly spoke, she managed to make people laugh and talk to her. She got along with all our classmates, though her group of close friends was small. Yet, she had friends.

As for me, I didn't have time to make a strong bond with anyone at those times. I had been living with my dad in England for almost six years after all and had just returned to Japan. Any trace of friendship I had managed to find there had disappeared. Living only for tennis back then, I had a limited amount of time to spend with my classmates. I used to get along with boys quite well, sharing the same passion for tennis. However, that only made the rest of the girls jealous and cold towards me, taking away with them any opportunity of finding anyone who could be my best friend.

Every morning, when everyone would gather up in a tight circle to tell their afternoon adventures before the teacher arrived, I would sit at the far back without talking to anybody. I had found interest in drawing then, fascinating with how you could draw a player in movement, highlighting their poses and muscles with as much detail as you wanted.

Of course, my classmates couldn't understand my amazement towards human anatomy and labeled me as weird. A simple compliment was everything I would get from my art teachers, the rest of the people in school not being able to care less.

The sad thing is that all that happened less than half a year ago, and things have not changed. We are all starting junior high this year and I dreaded that even with my new classmates, history would repeat again. I didn't want to be lonely again and I knew that my best card for creating a bond was tennis. My only hope was that Seishun Gakuen's tennis club was strong and very popular, meaning that students there really appreciated the sport.

"Kikyo-san! Over here!" Sakuno's yells finally broke my line of thought, making me to raise my head in order to search for her in the sea of people.

I finally spotted her still standing by the pillar, waving her arms around so that I could find her more easily. Standing by her side was a tall woman wearing dark pink pants and a blue shirt. Her long brown hair and wise eyes made you forget that she was an older woman, already having a granddaughter. I smiled at them and headed their way, bowing respectfully at my brother's coach once I reached them.

"Mou, Obaa-chan! I cannot believe you're thirty minutes late," Sakuno reproached to her grandmother, sending her a small pout.

"Sorry Sakuno, Kikyo-chan. Alright, let's go!" Ryuzaki-sensei apologized, sending us an encouraging smile to tell us we could still make it on time.

I nodded excitedly and bent down to pick up my things, adjusting the strap of my white racquet holder on my right shoulder. I turned and followed my brother's coach towards the entry, hoping with all my soul to make it on time.

"That's the north exit," Sakuno-chan said from behind us with a little bit of confusion latched in her voice.

"What are you saying? The Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden is just ahead of the north exit," Ryuzaki-sensei told her as we stopped walking and turned to look at her.

"Are you alright?" I asked her, seeing she wasn't moving. "Let's hurry!" My voice rang a little bit nervously this time, gently urging her to follow us.

Sakuno sent a troubled glance to the south exit before running to catch up with us, confusing me greatly. We rushed through the parking lot and finally reached the car, where I sat on the back seat while both Ryuzakis were on the front.

"Today's opening matches will only be played by novices, but my disciple's son is participating," Ryusaki-sensei was telling Sakuno as I just looked outside the window at the trees that sped past us.

People were walking on the sidewalks randomly, each one of them locked up in their own world. Some of them walked quickly, others were simply enjoying nature, and some families were playing and laughing together. Do they know that there's going to be a tournament in the Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden soon?

"U-Um, Grandma…?" Sakuno asked Ryuzaki-sensei hesitantly, moving nervously on her seat. "If you're late to the match…what happens?" She asked, making me to turn and see her. Did she really let her hopes fall now?

I trained my gaze to the radio on the front and my eyes widened at the sight of the digital clock. I only had five minutes left to register and the traffic seemed to be doing its best to stop us. I closed my eyes and let my head fall sideways to the window again, feeling how emptiness grew inside my stomach because of the nerves.

"Well, then it becomes a default loss," I merely heard when Ryuzaki-sensei answered her granddaughter's question.

**-xox-**

_Smack. Smack. Smack._

People had already started to warm-up in the Tennis Garden, and some matches had already begun by the time we reached it. I was looking around desperately as I saw all the courts occupied, people older than me being the ones playing. _What if-_

"Kikyo-chan, you better go register," Ryuzaki-sensei told me, looking back at me from over her shoulder.

"H-Hai!"

I sprinted towards the registration table, dodging everyone who was jogging and talking on the way. Once I finally reached my destination, I leaned myself on the table and tried to regain my breath before talking.

"My name's Fuji Kikyo. I'm in the Under-16 category," I managed to said, still panting slightly from desperation. I watched jittery as the man sitting in front of me checked some papers, obviously searching for my name.

"I'm sorry, but the next match has already begun," he said, glancing at me from behind his glasses in an accusing way.

I felt how my heart fell to my feet, and my panting suddenly ceased. My hands plopped down to my sides and my bangs covered my saddened eyes when I straightened up. I knew there was nothing more I could do. I had lost without even playing. My hands were shaking uncontrollably by the mere thought of it.

"I see," was my emotionless reply before I started to walk back to Sakuno and her grandmother. I dragged my feet solemnly with my head down, my bangs still casting a shadow over my eyes. "I defaulted," I said, lowering my voice until almost a whisper to prevent any sadness from being heard.

"I'm sorry Kikyo-chan, it was my fault," Ryuzaki-sensei told me gently, looking at me sympathetically.

"Please, don't worry about it. It's not as if you did it on purpose," I said quietly, walking past her and starting to walk away. I couldn't even put myself together to send her a small smile, for false as it could be.

"Where are you going?" She asked me, turning around to keep her eyes locked on my back.

I stopped on my tracks for a few seconds, pondering on what to tell her so that she wouldn't worry about me. My dad had left me under her responsibility after all, and the last thing I wanted was to get her into more trouble.

"I need some time on my own," I finally answered before I continued to walk down the stony path.

**~*~Ryusaki-sensei's POV~*~**

I sighed and kept watching Kikyo's retreating form until it became smaller with the distance. Poor girl, she had been waiting for this moment for a long time now. I had been the one to raise her hopes just to crush them down again mercilessly. However, I had not done it knowingly.

My former student, Echizen Nanjiroh, had called me to inform me that his son had gone missing. He was supposed to pick him up at the airport a few hours ago, but he had had 'important business' and had completely forgotten. His wife had called him to scold him and tell him that their son's belongings had arrived without their owner to the house.

The boy was supposed to participate in the same tournament Kikyo was, and that was the place his parents suspected him to be. Of course, the job of finding him and taking care of him was loaded onto me. That lazy man could cause nothing but trouble!

Deciding that nothing would be solved if I just stood around doing nothing, I prepared to go look for the young boy. Remembering I was not alone, I turned to look at my granddaughter, finding her a few feet away from me with a desperate look on her face.

"Hey, you're in a hurry…is there someone you have your eyes on?" I teased her, watching how she turned to me startled.

"O-Obaa-chan! W-what happened to Kikyo-san?" She asked me, obviously having paid no attention to what was said before.

"She defaulted," I told her, uncertain if she was listening to me or not since she was still looking around frantically.

"Defaulted?" She asked, suddenly stopping to turn around so that she could lock gazes with me. She tilted her head to the side in confusion, not actually remembering the meaning of the word.

"It means disqualification, don't you remember?" I asked her, truly worried by now. I knew she could be quite forgetful, but this was turning out to be weirder by the second.

"Oh, this is bad! I have to go look around!" She told me before running off in the opposite direction Kikyo had gone.

"What a strange child," I mumbled to myself as I watched her running, an anime sweat drop running down the side of my head. "Be careful!" I shouted at her before she was out of hearing range, hoping she had heard me.

Something told me that the person she was concerned about was not Kikyo…

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

_Smack. Smack. Smack._

"Game won by Takato!" An umpire announced from over the court I was walking by, excited cheers erupting from the crowd standing outside of it, watching the match intently.

Not even sparing a glance at the players, I continued my sulking as I headed to a calmer place, somewhere where I could cry without being disturbed if necessary.

"_I can't believe I defaulted…After all the problems my siblings had to go through just to give me this chance, I still couldn't even try…_" I thought sadly as I walked near the edge of a piece of grass that was laded, not even caring to look at my surroundings.

"Hurry up! Nii-san's match is about to start!" A young boy with short brown hair called back to his younger brothers, motioning to the twins to run faster.

Surprised by the new voice, I quickly looked up the moment the younger kids passed rushing by my side, making me lose my balance a bit.

"Sorry!" Both twins apologized to me at the same time, not even turning back to look at me.

I sighed and turned to keep on walking, without realizing I had moved closer to the edge of the stoned pathway. The moment I took a step, my left foot slipped off the edge I was walking on, sending me sliding on my right side down the small hill.

"Eep!" I yelped in surprise, digging my fingers into the ground to stop my fall. I sighed in relieve once I finally kept still, pushing myself into a sitting position with my hands to examine myself.

"Don't tell me you can't even walk right now," I mumbled childishly to my left foot in a tone barely audible while glaring at it.

"You're pretty clumsy, aren't you?" A bored voice suddenly spoke by my side, managing to get a chill run down my spine in shock.

Shifting my gaze towards the voice, I gasped in surprise once I found the boy from the train lying down on the grass a couple of feet away from me. Not being able to find my voice for a moment, I decided to go with the option of taking off my racquet holder and inspecting the white bag with 2 parallel lavender colored lines running in the middle.

"Aw, just what I needed," I pouted as I discovered that my bag had soil on the lower part, right below my name that had been stitched with a turquoise colored thread.

I could feel that the boy had not taken his eyes off of me the whole time, making me feel rude for not answering him. I trained my blue orbs towards him shyly, already prepared to find him glaring at me. He didn't even blink once I turned to lock gazes with him, and to my surprise I realized that he was looking at me curiously, not angrily.

Without any kind of warning, I suddenly found myself lost in his eyes, since they were no longer covered by his cap. They were big and of a dark golden color, with a little bit of green here and there, contrasting perfectly with his delicate features. There was something about him that seemed familiar, but my current daze was not allowing me to remember properly.

Apparently, he finished inspecting me faster because he raised a perfect eyebrow in my direction. It's not as if I was expecting him to be amazed by someone as normal as me or anything.

A soft pink color covered my cheeks for a moment as I lowered my deep, dark blue eyes to the ground, feeling embarrassed for having been caught staring at him for so long.

Sensing my nervousness, he finally took his eyes off of me and lowered his white cap so that it was covering them again, resting his head under his folded arms as he faced towards the sky.

Hesitating for a bit, I moved slowly so that I was sitting next to him, silently telling him that I didn't want to leave. I had finally founded a peaceful spot, and any desires of crying had long ago vanished. Hugging my thin legs up to my chest, I stared off at the Nothing as my thoughts wondered back to my family and what they would say once they discovered I hadn't played a match.

"So, you're here to play in the Under-12 tournament?" The boy asked lazily, not even looking at me.

"In the Under-16," I corrected him quietly, looking down to my right at him in wonderment.

"Hn, so I wasn't the only one…" He commented with a small smirk, still with his eyes closed.

"So it seems…" I replied, not exactly knowing what else to say. This boy was, or thought he was, good enough to play against people who were 4 years older than him, and he wasn't even afraid of admitting it!

I gawked at him for a few seconds, admiring his courage and pride for speaking that way. I could never show off the way he just did. I even felt uncomfortable by the fact that Ryuzaki-sensei had registered me for the Under-16 tournament and not for the Under-12…

"Why aren't you playing then?" He questioned me again, bringing me back to reality once more.

"I defaulted," I answered him ashamed, looking off to the other side to hide my blushing cheeks. What if he thought I was a lazy girl who didn't care a bit about tennis and was only worried about the clothes in her closet?

"E-Excuse me…" A quiet voice spoke from behind us, interrupting our small conversation.

The boy finally opened his eyes and looked up to see the one who had talked while I looked at her from over my left shoulder, surprised to find none other than Sakuno.

"Um…did you make it on time?" She asked shyly, holding her hands up to her lips in worry.

I stared at her in confusion, not understanding why she was asking me that again if I had already told her and her grandmother I had defaulted.

"I-" I started, but stopped once I heard I was not the only one answering.

"I was five minutes late. I defaulted," the boy lying next to me answered, lowering his head so that his cap was covering his eyes yet again.

An almost invisible blush appeared on my face once I understood she had not been talking to me but to him, and I couldn't help but feel a bit dumb. Still, the boy had said he had defaulted too…

"I'm so sorry! It was my fault!" Sakuno quickly apologized, bowing while closing her eyes nervously, a light blush covering the bridge of her nose.

The boy sighed and sat up-straight, crossing his legs Indian-style and resting his hands on his lap. He sent Sakuno an annoyed stare before lowering his olive eyes to stare at his hands.

"Bingo. Did you come here to cause more trouble?" He replied bluntly, making Sakuno's eyes widen in shock.

I shifted my eyes from Sakuno to the boy repeatedly as I watched their interaction, failing to remember how those two had met.

"Anno…was it really her fault you were late?" I asked the boy quietly, fearing he would get angry since I was getting into the affairs of others.

"Could it have been anyone else? She was the one who gave me the wrong directions," he told me calmly, looking at me with a blank expression on his face.

I blinked in amazement, looking back at Sakuno and her troubled face as if thinking the whole story was written on her face. It was true that she was never the best person you could ask directions to, mostly because she was hardly paying attention to her surroundings and she could get lost pretty easily. Yet, she wasn't _that_ bad…

"I'm thirsty," the boy declared all of a sudden, catching both Sakuno's and my attention. A small sweat drop formed at the back of my head at his change of subject, which I found pretty abrupt.

"I-I'll buy some!" Sakuno quickly offered, determined to redeem her mistake from before.

**-xox-**

"I'm sorry, I didn't bring any change," Sakuno apologized as the boy handed each of us a can of grape Ponta.

"Thanks for the drinks," I told him with a closed-eyed smile as I popped open the can.

I guess I really need to do something about my Ponta obsession, but if I didn't have it, I might have had rejected the boy's invitation and that wasn't so courteous.

Right now, the three of us were sitting on a bench in front of the soda machine, the boy and I eagerly drinking our Ponta while Sakuno just stared down at hers. The sound of tennis balls hitting the strings of the racquets could be heard from all around, filling me with a nostalgic feeling.

The heavy silence was soon interrupted once Sakuno gathered enough courage to speak though. "Err…thank you for earlier. You saved me in the train."

"From what?" The boy next to me asked confused, turning his head to look at her from over my can of soda.

"From what! Well, if you hadn't stepped in, I could've been hit by the racquet," she explained as I noticed the grip on her can tightening slightly.

"You were on the same train?" The boy questioned from my right, making me to turn my head in his direction and stare at him unbelievingly. "Where did you sit?"

By now, Sakuno and I were watching him as if he had gone nuts, leaning sideways as if preparing to run away if necessary.

"R-Right across from you," I answered, seriously thinking about taking Sakuno and running straight back to her grandmother.

However, the boy just shrugged and leaned back on the bench after closing his eyes, raising his can to his lips to take another sip of his Ponta. "Whatever, I just told them to shut up because they were loud, that's all…"

It was just in that moment that a different can flew right in-between the boy and me, stopping at a good distance from the trashcan in front of us. My eyes widened in shock and my whole boy tensed up, making small dents appear in my can of Ponta from where my fingers were holding it. That had surely been unexpected.

"Sorry for being so loud," the same arrogant voice from the train said behind us.

We turned around to see the newcomers, not at all surprised to see Sasabe and his friends. He had changed from his tanned uniform to a white and lavender shirt with brown shorts. His light blue racquet was being held loosely in his right hand, meaning that he probably had been practicing.

"Sasabe, these are the brats from earlier," Sasabe's black haired friend told him with a malicious grin.

"It looks like they just lost and are ready to leave, huh?" His other friend with short brown hair collaborated, staring down at us with disgust evident on his features.

Sasabe smirked and walked up to us, bending down and using his racquet to lift my new friend's cap by the brim to see his eyes. "I'm seeded in the Under-16 tournament, and also one of the people aiming for the trophy. To think you can beat me with just theories is a big mistake! You told me to shut up? I dare you to say it again!"

It was just then that he caught sight of the death glare the boy was sending him, angering him even more. "I don't like that look of yours!" He roared.

The boy, far from intimidated, merely blinked without changing his expression at all. Suddenly worried of how this was going to end, I slid slowly towards Sakuno for comfort as my eyes shifted from the boy to Sasabe repeatedly. Just as I feared, Sasabe lifted his racquet in a desperate attempt to at least make him flinch, extracting an alarmed yelp from my throat.

"That's dangerous!" Sakuno cried out too, gripping on my upper arm tightly to canalize her nerves.

The rim of the blue racquet had stopped just mere centimeters away from the kid's feline eyes, and even so, his gaze was still directed at the older boy's face and his expression remained unfazed. Sakuno sighed in relief once she discovered the racquet had not touched our friend, but I was left shaking in fear of it really coming into contact with the kid's skin.

Acting on pure impulse, I sprang up to my feet and used all my strength to push the senior on the stomach. Of course, it was not enough to bring him down, but he at least stumbled a few steps away from us. Quickly recovering from his surprise, Sasabe stood straight up again to tower above me, his small brown eyes full of poison piercing mine.

I could feel both pairs of brown and golden eyes staring at my back, reminding me once again that I was not alone. Blushing in embarrassment, I looked down to the ground to calm myself before locking gazes with the tall brunette once more.

"If you knew half the things you pretend to do then you would probably know that racquets are not used for hurting other people," I told him in the best angered tone I could manage, making him flinch in anger.

"Kikyo-san!" Sakuno called me in a high-pitched tone, quickly standing up and pulling on my arm to make me sit on the bench again before I did something even more foolish.

"Heh, you can't even defend yourself. How dare you talk to me about tennis?" Sasabe sneered at our friend, sending him a heated glare.

"Hey, let's go…" One of Sasabe's friends finally said after noticing how his friend and mine started a new glaring contest.

Finally looking away, Sasabe nodded to his friend and turned around to leave, unconsciously knocking off Sakuno's Ponta with his racquet. To our disgrace, the purple liquid fell all over the senior's shirt, making him to snap in fury.

"Ah! Shit! You got juice on me!" He yelled at Sakuno's face. "It's sticky! What am I going to now you idiot! Unlike those little brats, I have matches!"

"S-Sorry!" Sakuno stuttered, leaning towards me as if trying to hide behind me.

"It was your fault! You hit it with the racquet!" I corrected him, standing up to defend my friend while I tried my best to ignore my trembling legs.

"What was that!" He screamed, pushing me back onto the bench by my shoulders.

I whimpered and closed my eyes, thinking he was going to blow a punch at me. Thankfully, he was stopped by the boy's voice coming from a few steps away, allowing me to open my eyes again.

"Nee, did you remember the grip yet?" He teased the senior, picking up Sasabe's can and throwing it into the trashcan.

"What?" Sasabe turned surprised.

"If not, we'll teach you what tennis is all about," he finished, challenging the older boy into a tennis match.

"_Wait, we? Does he mean a doubles match with…me?"_ I thought surprised as I whipped my head in his direction, unaware of Sakuno's awed expression.

**-xox-**

"Sasabe, you still have matches remaining in the tournament," the brown-haired senior reminded his prideful friend. "Is this a good idea?"

"This will be a good warm-up for my next match," Sasabe replied confidently from over the green tennis court.

"Once you set your mind to something, you don't listen to other people…" His black haired friend, named Hisayuki, laughed. He had now changed into a white and light green shirt with dark blue shorts, seeing as he was going to be Sasabe's doubles partner.

"Maybe we should stop this…" Sakuno told both the boy and me worriedly, shifting her eyes from one to the other as she searched for some change in our expressions. She was currently sitting on a bench inside the tennis court alongside our new friend, who was calmly tying his shoe laces.

"I came all that way for this, it'd be stupid going back without having played a single match," the boy simply replied, not looking at her even once.

"He's got a point you know," I told Sakuno calmly, repeating the same thing in my mind over and over again.

I was feeling down because I couldn't participate in the tournament, but a single match is what I needed to prove my family I was ready to play tennis seriously once more. I refuse to lose this golden opportunity just because I'm feeling uncomfortable.

To ease the quick beating of my heart, I took a deep breath and bent downwards, perfectly touching the ground with the palm of my hands without bending my knees. While I performed this small warm-up, I tried to lock my mind from any scary thoughts. My stomach was doing flips and turns as the nervousness before every match started flowing through my veins, and I could even see my hands trembling on the ground.

The sound of a zipper sliding open brought me back to reality; reminding me that time was ticking away and making my current nerves increase tenfold. The boy took off his red jacket and tossed it on the bench beside Sakuno, bending down to take his racquet out.

Deciding to follow his example, I straightened up and headed towards my holder to take out my favorite racquet. It was made out of wood and had a lavender-colored grip tape, a rather simple design compared to those now being sold in stores.

Being all ready, the kid stood up and started walking towards the court where Sasabe and Hisayuki were already waiting, patting my back as he walked beside me.

"It's time," he told me, a small smirk playing with his lips.

Confused, I stood up-straight and looked at him, marveling at how calm he was. His red and black Bridgestone Dynabeam Grandea was being held behind his back and his hands were stuffed in his pockets, giving him the aura of a professional.

"A-Are you sure you want to play doubles?" I finally dared to ask him, blushing shyly when he turned towards me.

I had thought he was only good at singles, or at least preferred them. Why was he risking a match like this for me then? What if I make a fool out of myself in there and make him lose pathetically? I mean…he wasn't even aware it had been a long time since I had played an official match!

The olive eyes that had been staring at me intently were suddenly softened when a smirk that could have almost be said to be a small smile graced the boy's lips. "I'll do it as long as it's with you."

I then remembered…that time…

**~*~Flashback~*~**

_"Game and set. Won by Echizen-Fuji pair!" The umpire announced, his call leaving behind a heavy silence._

_The crowd could do nothing but stare amazed at this turn of events, all pairs of eyes being glued at the short pair standing in the middle of the court. Finally, the kids watching the game erupted in loud cheers and clapping, being quickly copied by the adults._

_"I can't believe this, ladies and gentlemen! The youngest members of this competition have won the tournament!" The voice of a commentator could be hardly heard throughout the commotion, all the cameras and flashes being directed towards the winners._

_The short girl turned towards her doubles partner with a bright smile, paying no mind to the crowd, her long braids following her every movement. "This was so much fun, Ryoma-kun! We must play some other time!" She told him excitedly, holding out her racquet in front of him._

_"Yeah," he admitted with a small grin of his own. "But I'll only do it as long as it's with you," he clarified with a pouting frown, raising his own racquet to meet the girl's._

**~*~End Flashback~*~**

"I…" I started, not actually knowing what to say. "I'm slow, am I not?" I finally told him with a bright blush, practically saying I remembered him now, and he just nodded.

How could I have forgotten? Echizen Ryoma…I met him in one of the tournaments I went to in the United States when I still lived in England. I even played with him in a mixed doubles match! I never thought I would see him again, let alone back here in Japan.

"Best of one set match," a loud voice jerked me back to the real world. "Sasabe service play!" Sasabe's brown haired friend announced, playing the role of umpire.

"You coming or what?" Ryoma asked me from over his position on the court, making sure I was sane enough to play.

Looking around, I noticed that Ryoma had walked away making me the only one missing, seeing as how Sasabe and his friend Hisayuki were already in their side of the court.

"H-Hai," I stuttered, rushing to position myself in front of the net.

"You're okay with no referee? We'll self-judge, okay?" Sasabe asked us, already holding a yellow ball in his left hand.

"Sure. We don't mind," Ryoma answered for the both of us, running in place slightly to prepare his reflexes.

I, on the other hand, was balancing from side to side with my knees bent, wriggling my toes inside my tennis shoes in expectation. Tightening my grip on the hilt of my tennis racquet, I took deep breaths and gulped quietly, calming down slightly.

As to be expected, Sasabe noticed our movements and thought that we were thinking it twice because of being afraid. "Don't worry; I'll give you some handicap…" Sasabe told us, as if trying to give us some confidence.

A small frown appeared on my face as I locked my eyes on his figure, feeling rather insulted. If there was something I hated, it would definitely be being underestimated in tennis, a sport that brought me something more than sheer happiness.

"Here, underhanded serve," Sasabe said before slowly launching the ball into the air and hitting it from below.

The ball went barely spinning over the net, beginning to fall as soon as it passed me from above. I stood still, something telling me that my partner had to set his irritation loose immediately.

"Play seriously!" Ryoma demanded, confirming my assumptions, quickly returning the serve and sending it to the left hand corner of Sasabe's side with twice the speed.

"Love-15!" Sasabe's friend announced, everybody being awestruck at the moment.

"Heh, I was just fooling around," Sasabe told his friend that played as referee, even though this game was supposed to be self-judged, before preparing to serve again.

**~*~Sakuno's POV~*~**

I couldn't believe those two were actually willing to play against someone older than them. Kikyo had looked a bit nervous before the game began, but the golden eyed boy had remained unfazed at the challenge, almost as if he did this kind of thing every day. Even now, he had just dared Sasabe to stop joking around!

"So this is where you went off to…" A voice suddenly spoke from behind me, startling me to no end.

"Grandma!" I yelped after recognizing the newcomer, watching her as she moved to my left in order to have a better view of the game.

"This looks interesting…" She mumbled in amusement, crossing her arms over her chest with a smile.

"Don't just stand there, stop this!" I scolded her alarmed. "One thing led to the next, and now they're playing a game with high scholars!"

"What are you saying? Didn't you see that return?" She asked me surprised, looking down at me with a confused expression on her face. "This is where it gets interesting…" She said excitedly as she motioned me to continue watching the game.

What was I going to do? They could even get hurt if we don't stop this! I just hope Grandma steps up to stop the game if it starts looking ugly…

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

Another sigh escaped my lips as I stood up straight again; feeling comforted at us having made the first point. My left hand tightened its grip on my racquet's hilt as I tested my strength, doubting I would be able to return heavy balls coming from the seniors for a long time.

Who really had me worried though was my partner, who had laid all his trust in me without a second thought. If I remembered correctly, Ryoma was an all-rounder and wasn't very used at playing doubles. In that case, I would have to be the one on the same wavelength as him instead of us creating a new one together.

"Hey Sasabe, maybe you should really try to win," Hisayuki whispered over to his friend, curiosity making me shift my attention to them.

"Shut up! Anybody can ace a return if it was an underhanded serve!" Sasabe barked over to this friend, twitching in anger.

My eyes narrowed slightly as I analyzed our opponents, trying to guess their next movement. What I was not expecting though was Ryoma's mocking voice from behind me.

"Yup, there are those who use those excuses for losing," he smirked, playing with the gut of his racquet. "Right, Kikyo-chan?" He suddenly added.

"Eep! W-Wait…!" I stuttered out, paling once I understood his intentions.

"Little kids, you think you can return my serve!" Sasabe growled at us, clearly irritated at Ryoma's taunting, making me to shake in fear.

What had Ryoma gotten us into!

"You better not chicken out!" Sasabe suddenly yelled, sending a real serve at us now.

The ball sped past me and Ryoma without giving us time to react, however, our eyes stayed glued to the ball the whole time. I sighed in relief once I discovered that the ball had left no mark on the court, meaning it was not as heavy as I thought it would be. With all the practice matches I had had against my brother, I was suddenly aware I could respond to that speed of the ball.

"That hit he just served came to about 180 kilo. It was Sasabe's Bullet Serve! I feel kinda sorry for those kids," the brown haired boy laughed at us, being easily ignored.

"Hey," Ryoma suddenly called me, making me to turn my head towards him. "Are you calm now?" He teased me with a smirk.

Feeling better now, I sent him a bright smile as I nodded. "I'm sorry for taking so long. It's been some time since I played in public," I admitted, holding the back of my head sheepishly.

"Oi! Should I hit slower!" Sasabe boasted from over the net, interrupting our small chat.

"No, it's ok," Ryoma told him calmly, sending me a serious nod.

"Then naturally, I'll have to do it. Going easy on you just because you're kids is a big mistake!" He shouted while he served his Bullet Serve again, this time towards me.

"_Yosh, no backing up now_!" I thought, determined to reach the ball as I thought I could. "I_t's time to prove I'm ready!"_

"Too slow," I commented with a shake from my head as I appeared in front of the ball, criticizing my own footwork.

Everyone seemed shocked as I graciously hit the ball back to the right hand corner, scoring another point for us. I couldn't help but smile excitedly at my racquet, suddenly feeling pumped up by the joy of playing tennis once more. If we kept this pace, I knew we would have better chances of winning this match.

"15-30!" Sasabe's friend announced once more.

"You're a funny pair, but there won't be a second time!" The brunette exclaimed, serving to Ryoma now.

He returned it easily, sending it to the corner again, but Sasabe managed to hit it back over the net. However, I was already waiting for it, and I jumped to make a smash that went through Hisayuki's legs.

"15-40!" The umpire said shakily, staring unbelievingly at the game developing right at his feet.

"I know! Stop keeping count!" Sasabe yelled over at him, about to blow up in irritation by now.

**~*~Sakuno's POV~*~**

"Amazing…!" I gawked at the strange pair, my eyes shining brightly after having witnessed the last point.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg…" Grandma commented, talking more to herself than to me.

"Eh?" I turned to her. "You know him grandma?" I asked her, eager to know more about the mysterious boy I had met in the train station.

"Didn't I tell you?" She turned to look at me in confusion. "He's the 'Prince of Tennis'!" She explained.

"'Prince of Tennis'?" I asked, totally awestruck by this new information.

"Ryoma Echizen. Twelve years old. In a year and a half, he's won four straight junior tournaments in the US, and is known as a prodigy," my grandmother listed, apparently knowing his profile by heart. "There's not much difference between him and Kikyo-chan actually, only that she has won in the UK," my grandma kept explaining.

"Four straight!" I asked surprised again, wanting to make sure I had heard that piece of information right. Can a person actually win that much?

"Yup, there's no fluke in that. Four times American Junior Champion," she nodded confidently. "His form is a killer, eh? He's so much like his father!"

"He can't be…!" My voice faded as I suddenly remembered what she had just told me in the car. "You disciple's son...is him!"

"That's right. He's the son of one of my students and the real reason I picked you up late today. As you know, Kikyo's older brother is one of my students right now too…" She nodded.

"Yeah, I know, but…why was he the reason you were late? He was in the same train as us after all," I asked her as I frowned slightly. Knowing her, she just made that up to clean her own name.

"He was?" She asked me as she raised her eyebrows. "Anyway, his family comes back to Japan every few years so their names are unknown. Even so, he said he was going to appear in this tournament," she decided to keep on explaining, shifting her gaze back to the game.

"I see…" I mumbled, sparing a quick look at the tennis court as well.

"I told him that if he was strong, he should register in the Under-14 category instead of in the Under-12 but Ryoma boasted that if he was going to play, he'd play in the Under-16 category," she finished with an amused smile.

"But didn't Kikyo…" I started, staring at my grandma curiously. I had thought she had boasted as well.

To my surprise, she let out a loud laugh at my question, rubbing her eyes before any tears escaped. "She's too timid for that, you should know that better than anyone. I took the idea of giving her a small push from Ryoma, and I had to move a few strings in order to do that," she confessed with a small wink before centering her attention on the game again.

"Game won by Echizen-Fuji pair!" I heard one of the bullies say, training my brown orbs towards the court.

After reflecting on everything my grandma had said, it was difficult not to look with new eyes at the girl I thought I knew from school and the boy I had just met.

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

"You're kidding me right? Sasabe lost his service game…" I heard one of Sasabe's friends say in disbelief.

"You idiot! They're just kids! I'm showing them a little mercy!" Sasabe quickly invented an excuse. "The girl's serves won't get in," he continued confidently, this time more to himself.

"Game count 1-0. Echizen-Fuji pair leads!" The 'referee' announced again.

I held my racquet above my head as I stretched my tense arms, feeling the pressure of being the next one to serve. Ryoma had been the one who had done more in this first part of the game, so the least I could do was to serve flawlessly.

Turning my back to the net, I started walking towards Ryoma, who was still standing at the baseline of our side. Catching my actions, Ryoma dug his hand in his shorts' pocket and walked up to meet me at the middle of our side of the court.

"You're going to appear in the finals, right?" He asked Sasabe, pulling out a ball from his pocket. "Let's end this quickly then."

I pursed my lips nervously as I watched the seniors' angry glares, looking down at my feet as I reached out to take the yellow ball Ryoma was offering me. However, he didn't loose his grip on it, silently telling me he was not done.

"Ne," I raised my head to look at him, wondering what it was he wanted to tell me. "Don't hold back," he instructed me with a smirk, finally releasing the ball and walking over to the service box.

I blinked in surprise before looking down at the ball in my hand, smiling slightly at his plan. If he wanted to distract them and irritate them even more, then I was going to do everything I could to comply with his wishes.

"Fuji service play!" The brown haired boy called as I bounced the ball with my right hand, reading myself for a serve with my right side facing them.

I moved my left foot in a circle quickly, wishing with all my heart that it was healed enough to do what I was about to do next. Finally tossing the ball high up in the air, I took a deep breath and bent my body backwards, almost touching the ground, as I lifted my left leg in a 'Grand Battement' and my right leg stayed standing straight.

I wheeled over my right foot and hit the ball in the exact moment I was lowering my left leg rapidly and straitening-up my body, bending forwards a bit. By doing this, I could use the weight of my body to give the ball an unbelievable speed, maintaining my balance by placing my left foot in front of my right one after lowering my leg.

Our small audience was speechless once they heard the ball hitting the metal gate surrounding the courts, the serve being invisible to their eyes. However, I knew Ryoma had seen it, maybe not perfectly, but he had. The ball had landed in the middle of Sasabe's service box and shot off towards the right hand corner of the court before ending stuck in one of the wholes of the metal fence from the speed it had been launched with.

A small smile appeared on my lips once I saw Sasabe's troubled expression, and Hisayuki's shocked one. At the moment, I wanted nothing else but jump around while cheering happily but I somehow managed to keep my composure. Looking over to my partner, I caught sight of the small sign he was making me, commanding me to serve normally once more.

I sent him a nod even though I knew he couldn't see me, and served just like he had told me to. Sasabe returned the serve but to my surprise, just as Ryoma was preparing to return it, both seniors ran up to the net. Hisayuki hit the ball Ryoma had returned to our right hand corner, making me to miss it by just a few inches.

"15-15!" The guy announced again, since he forgot to do it with my last point because of his shock.

"What's wrong, brats? What happened to all that energy from before?" Sasabe tempted us as we all had our chances to hit the ball.

"30-40!" We heard the umpire call after some minutes of playing, with Sasabe's and Hisayuki's pair leading.

"That was our Special Net Play," Hisayuki informed us cockily, hitting his fist against Sasabe's proudly.

"Hum…I see. Kikyo-chan," Ryoma called me, glancing back before I started my serve.

"Hai," I nodded, thinking the same as him. Once more, I was going to leave this to him, taking care of the unprotected areas instead.

Serving normally once more, I sent the ball to Hisayuki, who returned it to Ryoma before running up to the net alongside Sasabe. They both chuckled evilly at us, obviously enjoying the fact that they were taking advantage of our difference in heights.

"Heh, once we're at the net is all over," Sasabe told us as he balanced from side to side, ready to run wherever Ryoma hit the ball.

Much to his surprise though, Ryoma sent a high lob over their heads to the right hand corner of their side, easily overcoming the barrier the teenagers had created.

"Deuce," Ryoma simply said, smirking at the faces his opponents were currently making.

I just smiled softly and shook my head slowly, watching on in amusement how the green haired boy played around with the unsuspecting seniors.

**~*~Sakuno's POV~*~**

"That little boy…" Grandma suddenly laughed. "It's just like Ryoma to overcome the height difference by using a high lob."

"What about Kikyo-san then?" I asked her. "She's leaving Ryoma-kun to return all the balls."

She blinked down at me for a moment, almost as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard. However, I didn't know she had caught the different honorifics I used when referring to both players, Ryoma's one being more affective than Kikyo's.

"Actually, Kikyo is being of great help to Ryoma right now," she corrected me, locking her gaze on Ryoma-kun at the moment. "You see, Ryoma actually doesn't know how to play doubles, he doesn't even like them, but he has such a strong confidence in Kikyo that he is able to move as he pleases inside the court without having to worry about the empty spaces."

"But then, how is she able to know where to run next?" I asked her, not recalling a single time Ryoma-kun and Kikyo-san had talked to each other.

"Kikyo and Ryoma had to learn to think equally during one of their tournaments. They tried so hard you could almost say they were reading each other's minds!" My grandma laughed, probably recalling the tournament she was talking about. "She has been the only one who has ever played alongside him because of this."

"How…" I started, staring in awe how Kikyo ran over to the back of the court just as Ryoma was running to the front to return another ball.

"How they are able to manage it?" She finished for me, sending me a smile. "It's Kikyo's form of playing doubles that makes her compatible with any kind of partner, since she watches her partner's back instead of wanting to play by herself like many singles players often do. Like Ryoma always does," Grandma explained again, emphasizing the last sentence a bit.

The way she said it…It made me feel…jealous of Kikyo-san for having such a strong bond with Ryoma-kun.

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

Once I served what was supposed to be my last ball, Ryoma and I followed the same strategy as before because Sasabe and Hisayuki kept on running up to the net. However this time, Sasabe ran to the baseline afterwards, trying to catch the lob, but even so the ball went in.

"Yes! That's another one," Sakuno cheered happily, probably referring to the point since we were now two games to love.

"Out!" Hisayuki suddenly called, making both Ryoma and me to turn to look at him.

"Too bad, it was this close," Sasabe said, feigning concern.

He was using his thumb and index finger to show us the distance; but as he did this, my sharp eyes caught sight of his left foot erasing the mark that the ball had left after bouncing on the court, which was also the prove that the ball had fallen inside the baseline.

"That's not true, that ball was in for sure!" Sakuno fought back, clearly offended by the lie.

"It's no use. This is self-judged, so he has the right to judge his side of the court," Ryuzaki-sensei cut her off, putting a comforting hand over her shoulder.

"That means…?" Sakuno began saying, actually not knowing what that meant.

"All the shots near the line will be called out. This means they can't hit deep shots anymore…" Her grandmother informed her.

"Advantage Sasabe-Hisayuki Pair!" The referee said as I prepared to serve once more.

The ball went right into the service box of the other side and Hisayuki ran upfront to return the serve to Ryoma, who send it back with lower height.

"This will end it!" Hisayuki smirked as he prepared to make a smash, but I quickly exchanged places with Ryoma in order to return the ball over his head with a forehand shot.

"Stupid! As long as I'm judging, those shots will always be out!" Sasabe laughed arrogantly, looking over his shoulder at the ball, missing the murderous glare Ryoma was sending him because of this.

However, the ball started spinning in place the moment it touched the ground, right beside the line. The ball finally stopped spinning after a few seconds, depriving both boys from their shameful lies.

**~*~Sakuno's POV~*~**

"W-What's happening?" The black haired boy exclaimed, totally bewildered.

"She's good. She added slice to the lob that allowed the ball to stop before the line!" Grandma exclaimed impressed, rubbing her chin in thought.

"Hey, was that in?" Ryoma-kun asked the older boys haughtily, directing their attentions from Kikyo to himself.

Wondering why he had spoken, I followed Kikyo with my gaze, watching intently how she played with the strings of her wooden racquet. Even though her bangs were covering her eyes, I was able to see a deep blush expanding all over her face until it reached her ears. Apparently Grandma had been right…she was too shy, even while playing tennis.

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

_Game won by Echizen-Fuji pair._

_Game won by Echizen-Fuji pair._

_Game won by Echizen-Fuji pair._

Relief was washing all over my body as I listened to Ryoma and Sasabe rallying up front by the net while Hisayuki and I were covering the unprotected parts of our sides of the court. We had made it through most of the match, only losing two games to the arrogant boys, and now we only had to win one more game to stop this terrifying match. Really, their attitude worsened after we managed to stop them from lying, and I was worried they were going to try something even more monstrous in desperation.

"I-I can't reach it…Damn!" I heard Sasabe growl in frustration.

I diverted my gaze from Hisayuki towards the rallying pair to discover that Ryoma had sent the ball a little bit higher, breaking the aforementioned rally. Of course, Sasabe's intentions were to smash the ball back to our side, but his jump was too short to reach the lob.

"Take this!" He suddenly exclaimed while looking at Ryoma, making him raise his head to stare at him under the brim of his cap. "You arrogant brat!"

My breath got caught in my throat as my worst fear became true. I saw in slow motion how Sasabe let go of his light blue racquet, sending it directly towards Ryoma. The racquet hit my friend on the face, who fell backwards, dropping his racquet and his cap in the process.

I gasped and ran to my partner's aid, kneeling in front of him to make sure he was alright. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the injury since he was on his knees and elbows, covering his face with his hands.

"That's too much!" I shouted over at Sasabe, outraged at this turn of events. "How could you do that!"

"Sorry, sorry," Sasabe falsely apologized. "My hand slipped," he smirked at me as he bent over the net to our side to pick up his racquet.

I stared at him in disbelief for a moment, completely shocked at his lack of values. Shaking my head to forget about Sasabe, I centered my whole attention on Ryoma, fussing all over him without getting a single response. Placing my hand on his shoulder, I urged him to lift his head, but he still refused to do so. The only thing I was able to see were a couple of carmine colored drops shining on the floor.

He was bleeding.

Somehow seeing this too, Sakuno cried out in fear before running into the court towards us. "Ryoma-kun, are you okay!"

"Sakuno!" I gasped over at her. "Don't get into the court!" I stopped her dead in her tracks, failing to notice the handkerchief in her hands.

"Don't come onto the court during a game," Ryoma finally spoke in a husky voice, raising his left arm towards the brunette to motion her not to move.

"B-But…" Sakuno protested, surprised by our reactions.

I shook my head at her to refuse her help, sending her a gentle smile to thank her anyways. She lowered her head in defeat and walked out of the court, walking over to stand beside her grandmother.

"Oi," Ryoma called to gain my attention, grabbing the wrist of the hand I had over his shoulder.

Understanding what he wanted to do, I supported him with my hands on his shoulders to help him get on his feet. Being able to stand on his own, he used his bloodied fingers to gently remove my hands from his shoulders, leaving small red stains on then. Feeling awful for seeing my friend like this, I looked away just to spot his white cap lying on the court a few steps away from us. Walking towards it, I bent down again to pick it up before going back to Ryoma and handing it back to him.

"Domo," he thanked me quietly as he placed the cap on his emerald colored locks. "Your grip is weak," he finally addressed Sasabe.

He allowed me to see the damage once he raised his head to glare intensely at our opponent, who had been watching our interaction the whole time. The hit of the racquet had caused a long, thin, horizontal cut in-between his eyebrows, and the blood had slid down his nose to his left cheek. I covered my mouth with my hand to prevent any gasps from coming out, feeling horrified with the sight. How was Ryoma able to stand without a wince with such a cut!

"Mada mada dane," Ryoma finished, hardening his glare.

**-xox-**

We were five games to love when Ryoma prepared to begin his service play. He bounced the ball a few times with his left hand before sending it into the air, bending his knees and jumping before making contact with the ball, bending forward. The ball bounced in front of Sasabe and, to our surprise, started spinning on the ground before springing quickly towards his face. He was able to dodge it by twisting his body backwards and to the side, making the ball to hit the metallic net behind him.

"15-love," Ryoma called out with his voice deprived from any emotion.

"W-What was that?" Sasabe choked the words out, still in the weird pose he had made to avoid the ball, totally shocked.

"Hey Grandma, didn't that ball spin the other way?" I heard Sakuno ask, from the side.

I was surprised that she was able to see the direction the ball was spinning to from that distance, mostly because of the speed the ball had achieved. I could just stand in my position at the net as Ryoma repeated the serve, this time actually hitting Sasabe on the nose before he could even swing his racquet, leaving a red mark on his already bleeding nose.

"Twist Serve? Was that the Twist Serve?" Hisayuki asked, a little bit scared of what was in store for him.

"30-love," Ryoma said in a cold tone, bouncing another ball again without even looking at anyone.

Again, he bent backwards and jumped to meet the ball in the air, the serve hitting Hisayuki in the face this time, making him fall backwards from the impact. The poor boy just sat up on the ground and raised his hand to his brow, which now had a red imprint of the ball.

"40-love," Ryoma continued the massacre, moving his head in a way that made his bangs and cap cover his eyes, giving him an eerie look.

"Ryoma-kun…" I whispered as I looked over my shoulder at him, marveling at how he was able to keep his cool even after having snapped.

"T-This is impossible!" Hisayuki stuttered while he had his eyes fixed on the ball being bounced by the emerald green haired boy, almost as if it was an omen of death.

"Go to hell," Ryoma suddenly said menacingly, raising the ball to his face as he sent them a piercing glare.

His golden eyes were burning with a mixture of intense feelings, leaving me nailed to the ground the moment I locked gazes with him. Both Sasabe and Hisayuki could only observe from the ground with fear in their eyes as he positioned himself for another Twist Serve, a sudden breeze adding a more dramatic effect to his figure.

"Stop!" Both seniors yelled in unison; Sasabe protecting his face with his racquet and Hisayuki holding his head with his hands.

To their surprise, Ryoma performed a simple underhanded serve, making the ball bounce slowly over to Sasabe. "Ba~ka" He mocked them in a sing-song voice.

I smiled at the irony, standing from my receiving position and turning to look at the boy playing as referee, finding him completely frozen in his chair. I chuckled slightly at his expression, apparently bringing him out of his daze.

"Game and set. Won by Echizen-Fuji pair!" Sasabe's friend finally announced, amazed.

"Sakuno, Ryoma and Kikyo won!" I heard Ryuzaki-sensei explain her granddaughter, who was still unfamiliar with all the terms used in tennis.

"Sugoi, I can't believe they won!" Sakuno replied ecstatic, making it sound as if she hadn't believed in us since the very beginning.

Brushing that thought away, I wheeled around and skipped happily over to my partner. "Ryoma-kun, Ryoma-kun! We won, we won! We did it!" I cheered childishly as I grabbed both of his hands and jumped excitedly in place, gaining a confused look from my friend.

"Fools, I wasn't playing seriously!" Sasabe's yells interrupted my joyful celebration. "When did I say it was only one set!"

"Eh?" I turned to face his side of the court once more, letting go of Ryoma's hands as we both waited cautiously for him to continue.

"Play one more! You'll taste the bitterness of defeat!" Sasabe shouted, completely deranged. "Wait you bastards!"

"Oi Sasabe, just stop," Hisayuki told him quietly, standing up and walking over to him so that he could place a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Shut up!" Sasabe snapped, slapping his friend's hand away. "Don't dare to order me around!"

"If you're a real man, you should know to fairly accept defeat," I mumbled, slightly annoyed. Unfortunately, judging by the crazy glare I received, I think he heard me.

"It's fine with us if you want to play one more set…" Ryoma said nonchalantly, stepping up to cover my small frame from the ice shards Sasabe was sending me.

Hearing this, the three boys turned to look at us a bit taken aback; finally noticing we were not sweating as much as they were. Feeling uncomfortable under all the stares, I shifted nervously behind Ryoma as if trying to blend in with him.

"Don't you get it? You stubborn fool…you can't beat either Echizen Ryoma nor Fuji Kikyo no matter how many times you try," Ryuzaki-sensei told Sasabe, right now the only one who was still on the other side of the court since Hisayuki had already walked aside. "But…if I remember correctly…" She mused, shifting her gaze to Ryoma.

"What are you talking about old hag?" Sasabe responded rudely at her, interrupting her in mid-sentence.

However, that didn't stop Ryoma from knowing where she had been heading to with what she said. "It doesn't matter," he sentenced, looking off to the side in disinterest.

Feeling a little bit out of place, I looked down to my left hand still holding my racquet. It was just then that I saw that Ryoma was holding his racquet in his right hand, realization soon dawning on me. "But you…"

My voice faded away once I witnessed how my partner used the drawn attention he had to change his racquet to his left hand, making our small crowd gasp in renewed surprise.

"Are left-handed," Ryuzaki-sensei finished my sentence, smiling in amusement at seeing the tennis prodigy tease his older opponents.

"What?" Sakuno exclaimed, actually not believing it.

I moved a few steps to the side as I kept my eyes glued on my friend's form. I really understood why Sakuno couldn't have guessed Ryoma was playing with his opposite hand…He had mastered using both hands in a way that it was almost impossible to say which one was the improved one. Unlike me, being a lefty ever since I remember.

As if on cue, Ryoma tossed a tennis ball in the air with his right hand and jumped slightly before making contact with it, directing his serve towards Sasabe. The ball went right in-between his legs with a gush of wind forming by its velocity, leaving a dark mark on the ground as prove of its strength, which doubled the one shown in the recent match.

Sasabe stumbled backwards before falling on his butt yet again, sending Ryoma a terrified look. "I quit!" He shrieked before fleeing off the court.

At that moment, I felt as if I was back in that tournament with Ryoma after having scored the winning point; I could almost see the faces of the amazed kids and the shocked parents. It had been him who had finished the game that time, just like this one. Today I remembered that playing as backup had his downs as well, like feeling as if the victory didn't belong to you, that you hadn't done enough.

When Ryoma straightened-up and turned to look at me, I was able to find a strange glint in his eyes, and I was certain he had revived that moment too. However, he had a different perspective in it, and I was sure it left him a better aftertaste than the one I was left with.

Sending him a small smile, I decided it was time to walk out of the court. By the sides, I could see Sakuno staring in complete admiration at Ryoma, probably dying to go and congratulate him. Sending Ryuzaki-sensei a smile, I headed over to my racquet holder in search for something that would appease my feeling of futility.

"Ryoma-kun, that was amazing!" I heard Sakuno compliment my friend as I rummaged through my bag.

A small smile found its way to my lips as I stared at the pair, listening at how Sakuno was recalling some of Ryoma's most wonderful moves. She had become really interested in the sport while she did her summer homework and I was glad she now had someone who could help her increase that interest. However, Ryoma seemed to have misunderstood her actions, judging by how he was looking off to the side with an emotionless face.

"Ah, found it," I whispered, as I pulled out a small yellow towel from my bag.

I was taught that it was considered rude to interrupt a conversation, but now that I had walked closer to my friends I was able to see the bloody mess Ryoma had made on his face each time he whipped his sweat away during the match. Eventually, Ryoma spotted me standing in doubt behind Sakuno, which in turn made her turn around to see what it was what he was staring at.

"Anno…You can use this to clean yourself," I told him quietly, pointing in between his eyes with the towel.

"Sankyuu," he thanked me as he took the towel from me before going to the bench inside the court to put away his racquet.

Sakuno and I were left standing in the middle of an uncomfortable silence while Ryuzaki-sensei went to talk to Ryoma, not actually knowing how to break it. I fidgeted nervously with my hands while staring at them, waiting for someone to come up and save the both of us. By my side, Sakuno was swinging back and forth distractedly, rubbing her arm awkwardly.

"G-Good game," she finally told me lowly, sending me a shy smile.

"Thank you!" I beamed at her, feeling happy she had gotten us out of the tense atmosphere.

"Kikyo-chan!" Ryuzaki-sensei called me, walking over to my small figure. "You did great!" She congratulated me cheerfully, picking me up in a tight hug just to put me down and ruffle my hair excitedly.

"You really think so!" I chirped lightheartedly, staring up at her with hopeful eyes. Being praised really made me feel better.

"Of course! Though it surprised me to find you here, let alone playing with him," she admitted, nodding her head in Ryoma's direction in the last part.

"Well, I wasn't going to leave without having played even once," I smiled up at her sheepishly, tilting my head to the side as a healthy blush spread all over my face.

"I'm sure your parents are going to let you join the school team, and I'm sure your brother will be happy to hear the news," she assured me with a smile.

"I hope so…" I said, my voice fading in the end once I saw Ryoma standing up and picking up his tennis bag.

"R-Ryoma-kun? You're leaving a-already?" Sakuno asked him surprised, following his every movement once he walked past her.

"I can't be too late," he answered as he stood in front of me, handing me the towel I had lent him.

"We'll see each other around then," I told him with a closed-eye smile, hoping with all my heart I was saying the truth.

He nodded at my comment and turned to leave, readjusting the strap of his holder over his shoulder. That was when I saw that he had missed some dried blood by his left cheek, the red liquid standing out quite clearly over his slightly tanned skin.

"Wait! You can't go on the streets like this," I told him softly. "People will think you had a fight or something," I giggled as I rubbed the towel against his cheek gently.

"I don't-" He started as he stared wide-eyed at me.

"There, all done," I interrupted him with a smile as I took a step backwards to give him more space.

Ryoma nodded in thanks at me and lowered his cap by the brim, covering his eyes again. He turned around and started to walk away, and I could do nothing but stare at his retreating figure.

"Well, let's hurry up and head back too if I need to talk to Kikyo-chan's family," I heard Sakuno's grandmother saying behind me.

I just nodded, still watching the place where Ryoma had just been a few moments ago.

"_I hope I see you again soon Ryoma-kun, that way things might become more interesting,_" I thought as a small smile creped to my lips in amusement, not noticing that Sakuno was staring at the exact same place as me.


	3. Chapter 2: Freshmen Vs Regulars

_**A/N: **_Finally submiting the next chapter of this story! Since this story is the rewritten version of my first attempt at writing, this chapter was almost completely changed in an effort to reduce the Mary-Sueishness my OC had started with, I hope it's better this way ^^ I'm so happy many people has added this story to their Favorites List and to their Story Alert List and I'm also thankful of your huge patience with me, so here you have a shocking surprise: THIS CHAPTER REACHED THE 50 PAGES IN WORD! 8D Don't worry though, I was using huge bold letters and extra space in-between the lines ^^U Anyways, enjoy! =D

_**Disclaimer: **_Tear-chan doesn't own anything of Prince of Tennis, it belongs to Takeshi Konomi ^^ She only owns her OCs and the plot twists she makes XD

* * *

**-xox-Chapter 2: Freshmen vs. Regulars!-xox-**

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

A small groan escaped my lips the moment a sweet piano melody reached my ears, bringing me down from Dream Land almost immediately. Recognizing the piano version of Utada Hikaru's 'Simple And Clean', I rolled under my bed sheets and tried to find the source of the song. Finally getting a hold of my cell phone, I snapped it open and blindly turned off the alarm before leaving it back on my night table. I then held even tighter to the light blue bed sheets covering my shoulders, trying to fall asleep again. I'm usually a morning person, but after having been jumping around the house for two days, all my energy had been drained completely.

Two days ago, after Ryuzaki-sensei told my family about the events that took place in the Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden, my brother had miraculously put aside his overprotective attitude for a moment and sided up with me, convincing my parents of letting me join Seigaku's tennis club. As to be expected, I exploded with joy and spent the following days playing videogames, dancing around, and just being hyper, much to my siblings' amusement. However, I now have to pay for all of that since it's my first day of school in seventh grade.

"Kikyo-chan!" My big brother suddenly burst in through my door, startling me to no end. "Are you…awake?" He lowered his tone in the end, probably staring at the odd scene in front of him. I was so startled when he barged in that I got tangled in my bed sheets and fell off the bed. Silly brother…

I sent him a sleepy glare, deciding to accompany it with a pout so that he understood I wasn't too fond of falling off the bed first thing in the morning. My facade soon fell though when a small yawn escaped my lips, making my big brother smile softly at me again as he walked towards my window. I quickly rubbed the sleep off my eyes in a cute way, groggily running a hand through my messy hair.

"Saa, if you don't hurry up, you'll be late for your first day," my brother chuckled.

Without a warning, he opened the light blue curtains, allowing the blazing sun to fall straight on my face. I flinched and shielded my poor eyes with my left hand, quickly crawling back onto my bed, where the sun still couldn't reach.

"No fair Nii-san! You don't have to go to school this early!" I whined, pointing an accusing finger in his direction.

Well, he usually does, seeing as he goes to the same school I'll be attending to. Today, however, the boys' tennis club's Regulars were invited to another school for a tennis tournament, which would be starting in a few more hours.

"I still need to be on time for warm-up," my brother smiled at me. "Tezuka will be tense today for sure," he added, smiling even wider as if the prospect of seeing his Captain irritated amused him.

"Huh? Why?" I tilted my head to my left, feeling utterly curious. I could never really guess what was going on through my brother's Captain's mind anyways.

"Ryuzaki-sensei won't be coming with us to this game and one of the second year Regulars is injured, so he won't be coming either," my brother explained as he rummaged through my closet, obviously searching for something.

I held my chin in thought while I tried to recall any past Regulars in eighth grade, finding no one in my small repertoire. I have only met a few of my brother's closest friends, like Tezuka-kun and Eiji-kun, and I have barely talked to the rest of the Regulars in ninth grade since I've been out of town for so long, so I'm not surprised I didn't have a clue as to who my brother was talking about.

"Anyways, that's also why the registrations for the boy's tennis club will be tomorrow," he finished, the upper part of his body still inside of my closet.

"Do you really think they'll let me join the boys' team?" I asked him quietly, nervous of the fact that I may be rejected by the team.

"You'll be talking to Sumire-san today, right? She knows what you're capable of, so she'll at least let you practice with us for sure. Regarding to tournaments, that's Tezuka's call, and I can't promise you anything," he told me sincerely, not wanting to raise my spirits so that they could be shattered later.

"_He's being overprotective again…_" I thought with a small sweat drop.

"Saa, here it is," he suddenly chirped, finally pulling something out of my closet. "Yumiko-nee-san went yesterday to buy your new uniform. Here, put it on and go downstairs to have breakfast," he told me as he placed a green outfit beside me on the bed before walking out the door.

I lowered my gaze from the closed door to my right, where the uniform laid. It consisted of a white shirt lined with mint green color, and a sweater of the same tone of green with a pink bow on the front, a pretty short sea-green colored skirt, black knee-high socks, and brown shoes. It was so much like my big sister to go and buy me clothes that she thinks I look cute in…like short skirts.

I sighed and went to take a quick bath before putting on the uniform. I walked over to my full length mirror and looked at the outfit from different angles, actually liking how it fitted me. I admit I felt a bit uncomfortable with the skirt, since it just reached about mid-thigh, but nothing I couldn't handle.

I then walked over to my desk and knelt down in front of it, caressing the small cactus my big brother had given me for my birthday. I liked to think about it as my good luck charm, caressing it having always made me feel better. It had a perfect round shape, with almost harmless pricks that only hurt if you rubbed your finger in the wrong direction. My brother had said that if I took good care of it, it would eventually flower. I read that these cacti actually flower in their second year of life, so it should be flowering by the end of the year.

Right beside my cactus, there was a small picture frame containing a memory of my older brothers hugging each other when they were little, an even smaller me smiling cheerfully in between them. How I miss those times…I haven't seen Yuuta since the day I hurt my ankle, seeing as he lives in St. Rudolph's boarding school now.

"I miss you, Onii-chan," I whispered to the photograph, caressing my brother's face. Finally standing up, I hoisted my white racquet holder, which would also be playing the part of backpack, on my left shoulder.

I turned around to leave and found myself staring at the huge empty cork board hanging on the wall beside my bed. My brother Syuusuke had given it to me once he started liking photography, claiming that it was for me to put my most precious pictures on it while the rest would still go into the photo album. I've been saving that board for the happiest moments of my life, and to be sincere, I hope to find them during this school year.

"Kikyo-chan! If you don't hurry up you won't get any breakfast!" I heard my mom calling me from over the stairs, breaking my line of thought.

"Coming!" I exclaimed, quickly walking out of my room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen.

Unlike my brother, who was going to stay a little bit longer with my mom, I had to gulp down my breakfast quickly and brush my teeth before it was too late. I would have to walk over to the school grounds today because my sister had already gone off to college, so I had to head out earlier.

"I'm leaving, Okaa-san, Nii-san! Wish me luck!" I shouted over at them as I slipped on my shoes in our genkan, before opening the front door and hurrying out.

The sky was unusually blue today, having almost no clouds adorning it. This predicted a windy day, a nice reminder that autumn was about to start. In a few weeks, most of the trees' leafs will be coating the floor like a flood, displaying their beautiful golden, brown, red and orange colors. Judging by the amount of trees in this neighborhood, we were going to have a wonderful spectacle this year.

I was just a few blocks away from my school when I heard the 8:00 o'clock bell ringing, making me gasp in surprise. I had to make it on time so that I could go talk to Ryuzaki-sensei while the tennis club was still doing their morning practice in case she decided to discuss my request with the teams.

I whined to myself as I broke into a sprint towards the school's doors, dashing through the front gardens and into the main building, not even bothering to enter homeroom. I ran up some stairs and searched the hallways looking for Sumire Ryuzaki's office, eventually finding it. Just when I was about to knock though, I heard a pair of voices coming out from behind the door.

"He retired at a young age. But he could've reached the top of the world had he played for a couple of more years. Even a Grand Slam wouldn't have been just a dream," A male voice said.

I froze at the door, with my hand on the doorknob, deciding between listening to the rest of their conversation or walking away and coming back later. This description of the person had made me curious though, since it was obvious they were talking about a tennis player. What else could someone talk about with Ryuzaki-sensei?

"Echizen Nanjirou, eh?" I then heard Ryuzaki-sensei's voice, as if she was deep in thought.

I shook my head and decided to let them know I was there, eavesdropping was wrong, so I lifted my fist and knocked on the door. There were a few shifting sounds as I opened the door, peeking in to see if Sakuno's grandmother could see me right now.

"Ah, Kikyo-chan! Come on in, I've been waiting for you," she turned to me with a smile on her face.

She was standing behind her desk, staring out a window that looked out to the school's front grounds. I walked in and closed the door, finally looking at the man who was standing in front of Ryuzaki-sensei's desk. He was tall and skinny, and had short chocolate colored hair and small eyes of the same color. He had a black backpack hanging from his right shoulder, and he was wearing brown trousers and a yellow shirt.

"Oh! Are you going to join the school's tennis team?" He turned to me with a smile, motioning to my white racquet holder that was hanging from my shoulder.

"A-Ah," I nodded shyly at him. In front of me, Ryuzaki-sensei was watching us interact with one another, smiling gently.

"I'm Inoue Mamoru, a journalist for the Monthly Pro Tennis Magazine," the tall man nodded his head at me.

"I-I'm Fuji Kikyo, nice to meet you," I bowed respectfully.

"Eh? Fuji Kikyo? Are you, by any chance, Fuji Syusuke's relative?" He asked me, having quickly made the connection.

"Hai, I'm his sister," I smiled sweetly at him, not at all ashamed to admit it.

"Don't overwhelm the poor girl!" Ryuzaki-sensei finally laughed, making the man stop before he asked a new question. "Well, I have some things I want to discuss with Kikyo-chan here."

"Ah, I understand," Inoue nodded. "So, I'll be walking around the school for a while. See you later, Ryuzaki-san, Fuji-san," he bowed respectfully.

"Please, call me Kikyo," I quickly said, gaining a confused expression from the journalist. "My brother is usually known as Fuji," I explained, not wanting to be confused for a boy.

"Alright, Kikyo-san," Inoue nodded at me once more before walking out of the room. After that, the room was filled with silence.

**~*~3rd person's POV~*~**

"Oi, Echizen!" A male voice shouted from behind the young prodigy, being easily heard in the empty school gardens.

The hazel-eyed freshman stopped once he heard his name being called and looked over his left shoulder, seeing as he was carrying his black racquet holder on his right one. A boy about half an inch taller than him was running to try to catch up with him, holding a racquet holder on his left shoulder as well. He had short spiky brown hair, big brown eyes, and uni-brow.

"Yo, you're Echizen from my class, right?" The stranger asked him, patting him slightly on the shoulder once he finally reached his side. "Are you joining the tennis club too?" He eyed the green-haired boy's black racquet holder.

"Who are you?" Ryoma asked bluntly, looking at his classmate boringly, not even bothering to answer his question.

"I'm Horio Satoshi," the brunette cleared his throat. "You know, this school is famous for its tennis. There are tons of strong players. Even though I look like this, I have two years of tennis experience. I also went to tennis school. Becoming a regular isn't a dream either-" Horio started to brag but stopped short once he noticed that Ryoma had already left him far behind.

"Hey Echizen, wait up!" He called over to Ryoma, running once again to catch up with him. Even so, Ryoma kept on walking with his eyes closed, not even listening to his bragging classmate.

"Oops. If you don't look at where you're going, you'll hit someone," Ryoma heard a voice say from in front of him.

He opened his eyes and took a step back once he saw he had stopped just a few inches in front of another boy. The new stranger was taller than him, and had black spiky hair and purple eyes. He was wearing the same black school uniform Ryoma and Horio were and was carrying no racquet holder, so there was no way for them to tell if he was a tennis player as well or not.

"That's a big bag you're carrying," the boy commented after seeing the black sheath resting on Ryoma's back.

Ryoma looked up at the boy, pretty annoyed by now, and the small smile the boy had been holding quickly vanished.

"I don't like your look," the eighth grader stated in a serious tone, but he quickly shrugged hit off and replaced his small smile. "But since you look like a freshman, I'll ignore it this time. Look in front when you walk…front," he chuckled, waving goodbye and walking around them, heading towards the doors of the main building.

"What's with that guy?" Horio asked, turning to stare at his senpai's back like Ryoma was doing.

Without answering him, Ryoma turned around and started to head to the place he was intending to go since the beginning: the tennis courts.

"Oh! It's just like Seigaku to have nice facilities!" Horio gawked at the big tennis courts displayed in front of them. "Let's go sign up now, Echizen!"

"You can't," A new male voice interrupted them.

Turning to their left, Ryoma and Horio found two boys of about their age packing their school uniforms after having changed to their sport clothes. One of them had black hair styled in a bowl-cut, and the other was a bit taller and had a shaved head.

"The juniors and seniors have a game with another school. So the sign up is tomorrow," the first boy told them from over the entrance to one of the courts.

"Most of the freshmen already left, but we want to hit some balls before we go," the taller one explained, resting his black backpack next to one of the walls surrounding the courts.

"Damn, this sucks," Horio crossed his arms over his chest, slightly disappointed.

"Oi, you there!" Yet another voice joined the conversation. "Are you going to join our tennis club?" An eighth grader who had long brown hair and a green sweatband secured to his forehead asked, walking out of the court with his friend.

"Ah, cheers!" The freshmen quickly greeted while bowing, everyone except Ryoma.

"I'm Katsuo Mizuno, a freshman," the boy with the shaved head introduced himself.

"Kachiro Katou," the boy with the bowl-cut told the juniors his name.

"I'm Horio Satoshi. I'm honored to be able to join a tennis club as renowned as Seigaku's. I have two years of tennis experience," Horio said, putting his right hand on the back of his head sheepishly.

"You over there, what's your name?" The raven-haired junior behind the one with the green band asked Ryoma, seeing as he hadn't talked at all. "Bastard, can't your hear me!" He growled once he saw the glare Ryoma was giving him, still not telling them his name.

"It's okay," The boy with the green sweatband placed his hand on his friend's shoulder to calm him down. "We know of a good game, want to try it?" He asked the freshmen. "The rules are simple. You serve from over there and try to hit the can in 10 tries. The prize money is 10,000 yen. Well, it's like a sign up ritual."

"The tryout fee is 200 yen per person. Want to try it?" The dark-haired junior added, placing a can on one of the service lines of the court.

"10,000 yen, of course we'll do it! Senpai, please allow us to try it!" Katsuo, Kachiro, and Horio exclaimed at the same time, bowing in front of the older boys.

"That's the spirit!" The one with the sweatband told them. However, Ryoma clearly saw the malicious look he shared with his friend.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Ryoma muttered under his breath, leaning his back on the metal gate surrounding the courts as he prepared to watch his classmates play.

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

"Don't stand frozen over there," Ryuzaki-sensei chuckled at me. "Take a seat," she told me, motioning over to the chair placed in front of her desk.

"Hai, thank you," I smiled at her, taking off my holder and resting it beside her mahogany desk before sitting down.

"So, your brother told me you wanted to talk with me," Ryuzaki-sensei started, placing a cup of tea in front of me. She took a sip from hers and sat down behind the desk, her back facing the big window overlooking the campus.

"Yeah…" I blushed, taking a sip from my tea to gain time. How was I supposed to ask her this!

"He only told me you wanted to join the boys' team. Why?" She decided to help me out, leaning back on her chair.

"Well…I can get along with boys very well, and I've had many problems with girls during these past years," I admitted, fidgeting nervously with my hands. "I think it would be easier for me to practice with them, and boys are more fun to be with regarding sports. I believe I can learn a whole lot more if I tag along with them," I explained, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly as I tried to ease my blush.

"And what makes you think you can't learn anything by being in the girls' team? They also have a great spirit, and it would be a great opportunity to try and fix those problems you said you had," the coach started to put pressure on me, actually enjoying my current situation.

"A-ah, I never meant for it to sound that way!" I panicked, moving my hands in front of me quickly. "It's just that…I want to know how far I can really get, and I want these experiences to be special…I just feel in my heart that this is the right choice," I mumbled, softening my gaze as I stared at my cup of tea.

_That was how I really felt._

"Kikyo…" Ryuzaki-sensei sighed, sending me a meaningful glance.

"A-Ah! What am I saying?" I flushed when I misunderstood the coach's reaction, shaking my head quickly to start thinking straight. "I also want to play in the Nationals with Nii-san, it's his last year in junior high too! And I've heard that the girls' team hasn't won the District Tournament in years!" I nodded confidently, pointing my finger upwards as if making a statement, not actually registering what I had just said.

For what I've heard from Syusuke, some of the female Regulars have nice moves, but most of the club was conformed by first years that were starting to learn how to play. Not to mention that there was a big gap between the skills of the girls' Regulars and the boys'.

Sumire-san kept quiet, a small sweat drop forming on the back of her head at my sudden bluntness. She sighed and pressed her temples with her thumb and middle finger, her elbow resting on her desk, starting to make a decision.

"I know you Kikyo. You're not aiming to have tennis practices with the boys only because of what they are, in any way that can be understood as," she said, shooting me a look from underneath her right hand.

"In any way it can be understood as?" I asked her innocently, tilting my head in confusion.

The coach merely raised her eyebrows, waiting for realization to shine down upon me. And judging by the sudden bright blush that spread across my face, it really did.

"EH!"

"I'll talk to Tezuka about the practices, tell him not to go easy on you, but I'm not in charge of the Ranking Tournament," she finally gave in, laughing at my reaction and placing both of her hands on top of her desk.

"Isn't there something I can do?" I asked her hopefully, already knowing that the Ranking Tournament was my ticket to play in further tournaments.

"Hmm….I might have an idea…" She told me mischievously, rubbing her chin in thought as she stared down at me with a dark aura surrounding her body.

**~*~Sakuno's POV~*~**

"Why did you suddenly join the tennis club, Sakuno?" My best friend, Osakada Tomoka, asked me as we walked through the school's gardens, her brown eyes curious and her brown hair pulled up in two pigtails trailing behind her.

"There's no reason, Tomo-chan. Let's hurry up. I have to hand in the registration form," I replied, holding up the piece of paper to emphasize.

What would she say if I told her I actually want to join because of that tennis match I saw with Ryoma and Kikyo the other day? Now that I think about that, I haven't seen any of them since that day. I never knew which school Ryoma was going to attend, but I'm positive that Kikyo will be joining her older brother here. Knowing her, she's probably going to sign up as well in this moment.

"Hey, are you two going to the tennis club?" An unknown voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "That's a sign up form, right? I'm saved! Can you take me there?" The strange woman said quickly, suddenly appearing in front of us.

Her shoulder-length brown hair was shining brightly with the morning sun and her brown eyes were holding hope in them. She was wearing black pants and a white jacket above her purple top, just about the right outfit needed for this time of the year.

A bit startled by her sudden burst of information, however, I moved closer to Tomoka, searching for some sort of comfort. Both Tomo-chan and I sent each other a confused stare from the corner of our eyes, not being able to put our thoughts together because of the shock.

"Eh?" The strange woman blinked at our confused faces. "Ah, I'm sorry, let me introduce myself. I'm Shiba Saori, an editor from Monthly Pro Tennis. I heard that the men's tennis club is at a very high level. I came to get a report on the new players, but I can't seem to find the all important tennis courts," the woman explained in one breath.

Just when se was about to open her mouth again to speak, she was interrupted by a male voice coming from the distance. "Hey Shiba! What are you doing over there?" A tall man with short brown hair and brown eyes came running over to us, startling just about everyone.

"Ah, Inoue-senpai," Shiba-san called him, surprised by his sudden apparition, watching as he reached her side.

"Did you get the report already?" Inoue-san asked his colleague, probably expecting her to have it by now.

"I was about to do it now…" Shiba-san said in a guilty tone, clapping her hands together as a way of apologizing.

"What?" Inoue-san exclaimed, totally shocked by her news once he understood she didn't have her work done.

Tomo-chan and I exchanged confused glances once more, turning our heads more obviously this time, not knowing what to do with both adults standing here in front of us. What if I could no longer hand in the registration form because of this?

**~*~3rd person's POV~*~**

"I'm sorry, that's it for you two," the boy wearing a sweatband, named Arai, informed both Kachiro and Katsuo from over the umpire's chair.

"You guys really suck," Horio laughed at the two boys, waiting for his turn to serve.

"You can say that, but it's our first try at tennis," Katsuo told Horio, slightly disappointed with his failure.

"We can't hit that small thing with just 10 balls," Kachiro kept on explaining as he stepped out of the court, trying to convince Horio that they did their best.

"Horio, with two years of tennis experience will now try his hand," Horio announced confidently, entering the court and preparing to serve the yellow ball. "10,000 yen is mine!" He exclaimed gleefully as he served, but the ball missed the can by a few inches.

And serve…after serve…after serve, the ball came nowhere near the can.

"Hey, hey, just one more try left," Arai warned Horio, greatly amused by the scene playing on in front of him.

"You can't hit it even in 100 tries!" Horio cried out desperately, closing his eyes as he served.

Surprisingly enough, the ball sped directly towards the can, but in the end just brushed one side. Ryoma's eyes narrowed at this, staring coldly at the unmoving can. It should have toppled over with that last shot, considering the strength Horio had unknowingly used in the serve.

"I couldn't do it…It was difficult after all," Horio said sadly, walking over towards Katsuo and Kachiro as Arai jumped down the referee's chair.

"So, the tryout fee was 200 yen. Here." Horio said as they each pulled out two coins of 100 yen from their shorts.

"Huh? Maybe you guys misunderstood," the dark-haired boy, Ikeda, said.

"Knock down the can serve game. 500 yen per ball. 200 yen tryout fee extra. Together it's 5,200 yen per person," Arai read the paper pasted to the back of the can to the three freshmen, watching in amusement how their mouths fell open in shock.

"Nonsense! This isn't even gambling, what kind of rule is this?" Horio exclaimed, trying to reason with the older boys.

"Just blame your bad skills," Ikeda told them with a smirk.

"Hey, shorty over there! You should try it too," Arai suddenly called over to Ryoma, making him open his eyes yet again to stare at him expressionlessly.

"Don't think you can just save yourself!" Ikeda said soon after, making the freshmen's attention to turn towards their classmate.

"It's not that I can't…" Ryoma started saying as he walked towards the cage full of tennis balls, red racquet already in hand. "But hitting that can normally wouldn't really work," he stated out loud, completely calm as he bounced a tennis ball with his left hand.

"W-What are you talking about?" Arai asked nervously, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

"There are rocks in there, right?" Ryoma voiced his thoughts, finally serving the ball with his right hand without waiting for Arai's answer.

The ball went flying towards the can and hit it on the top, almost at the edge, making it to fall down, revealing a bunch of pebbles stored inside of it.

"Awesome, he hit the top of the can with pinpoint accuracy," Horio said completely awestruck, but he quickly shook it off and turned to face the eighth graders. "The senpai are cheating! That's so dirty!" He yelled over at them.

"Shut up! What does a newcomer know?" Ikeda silenced him, pointing at him rudely.

"Damned brat, he shouldn't have done that," Arai growled, still looking over at the short freshman.

However, Ryoma just kept on serving balls, each one of them hitting the can every time, ending the discussion of the other boys immediately.

"If I hit it 100 times, are you going to give me 1,000,000 yen?" Ryoma asked cockily, serving yet another ball and paying no mind to the junior's death glares.

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

"Let's see…" Ryuzaki-sensei started, scratching her chin in though as she stared at me impishly. "What are you willing to do to be considered for the Ranking Tournament?"

"Anything you want!" I answered quickly, sitting at the edge of the chair expectantly.

"Then let's make a bet!" The older woman smirked at me, resting her back on her chair. "If the Captain of the girls' tennis team recommends you to me today, then I'll make sure I recommend you to Tezuka."

My eyes widened unconsciously at this. "You mean that I need to have the Captain's approval? How am I supposed to do that?" I asked her in shock.

"By playing a match of course!" Ryuzaki-sensei said nonchalantly.

"A-And if I can't do it?" I stuttered out, biting on my pointer finger in worry.

"If she doesn't approves you, then you'll be a good girl and wait like the rest of the freshmen until next year," she finished with a satisfied grin at my dumb folded expression.

We sat there, keeping our eyes fixed on each other's for a couple of more minutes. I heaved a small sigh, looking down at my feet as I thought about it. If I wanted to be next to my brother this year, his last year, then I would have to beat the Captain of the girl's team and gain her approval. I was willing to do anything to stay close to my brother but…why would the Captain agree for me to join the boy's team? What could I do to impress her? However, there was nothing else I could do.

"Alright," I finally agreed quietly, looking back up at my brother's coach. "I'll give my best," I nodded at her, smiling softly in mild determination.

"Very well," Ryuzaki-sensei agreed, nodding her head sharply. "You really have grown-up these past few years, Kikyo-chan," she told me, eyeing me as affectingly as a grandmother would do to her granddaughter.

A true smile finally decorated my lips as my eyes lit up with enthusiasm, her encouragement making me forget for a moment that I didn't have a clue as to how to gain the Captain's approval.

"Thank you very much, Ryuzaki-sensei," I told her sincerely, standing up and handing her the now empty cup of tea.

I gave a respectful bow, maybe lower and longer than usual, and walked towards the door with my racquet bag already on my shoulder again. I closed the door quietly after me and rushed to get out of the hallway, suddenly fearing the heavy silence surrounding the school. Most of the students were already either in homeroom or morning practice, leaving all the hallways deserted.

I stopped for a moment and leaned against one of the many windows decorating the hallways to look outside, being greeted by the artificial green soccer field. A big group of boys was starting to warm up, running all around the field while kicking their knees up. A small smile crept up my lips as I watched them, remembering how it felt to train…to swing the racquet…

"Seems like I had already chosen…" I mumbled to myself, smiling brightly and turning around to leave. I was going to win, I definitely was.

I rushed happily down the flight of stairs until I reached the main floor again, starting to skip happily towards the outside in order to go meet the girls' Captain. Once I was walking through the gardens, I spun around once, but having just my luck I crashed into someone at the same time as I was looking ahead again.

I yelped surprised when I bounced backwards but a hand shot out and grabbed my right wrist, stopping me before I even started falling. The hand retreated once I was steady, and I found myself staring at a yellow t-shirt that was being used with the blue pants every eight grader had to use in Seigaku whenever they were doing sports.

"Aw, this is the second time this morning! Are you alright?" A male voice reached my ears, coming from the boy standing in front of me.

He was way taller than me, so much I even had to look up and take a step back before I could finally see his face without craning my neck. He was smiling gently at me, and his deep purple eyes held curiosity in them. His black spiky hair seemed as if no one would ever be able to tame it though.

"I…Yeah. Forgive me, I wasn't paying attention," I said, blushing slightly in embarrassment as I bowed. Getting into problems with my upperclassmen was the last thing I wanted on my first day of school after all.

"So cute! You're like a porcelain doll!" He suddenly cooed, surprising me greatly. Pinching my left cheek, he knelt down in front of me so that we could be eye-to-eye. "I'm Momoshiro Takeshi, an eight grader here in Seigaku. But you can call me Momo-chan. What's your name?" He asked me with a toothy grin, still keeping my cheek in his iron grip.

"I'm Fuji Kikyo, a seventh grader," I introduced myself, grunting lowly at the pain in my cheekbone. It took him a few seconds to finally process the information I had just given him, but the moment he recognized my name he finally released my cheek and stared at me in shock.

"You mean….you're Fuji-senpai's little sister?" He asked me in awe, blinking repeatedly as he stared at me, probably trying to compare me to my brother.

I rubbed my sore cheek gently as I sent him a small pout, knowing that the previous assault was probably going to leave a mark later on.

"Yeah, Syusuke's my older brother…" I finally answered him, dropping my hand to the side, leaving my already slightly red cheek exposed. "Hang on, you know Nii-san?" I asked him in realization, tilting my head to the side in confusion.

"Who doesn't?" Momoshiro chuckled, but stopped as soon as he saw my confused expression. "Your brother is one of the best Seigaku Regulars. Some people even call him the tensai, or genius, of the team," Momoshiro explained, looking at me weirdly since he found it hard to believe that I didn't know who my brother was in school.

"I know what a tensai is and that he is one. I just didn't know he had so many fans," I replied with a cute pout, making him laugh again.

"Anyway, where are you heading to?" He asked me, leaning to the side in order to have a better view of my white racquet holder.

"To the girls' tennis courts," I chirped. "I made a bet with Ryuzaki-sensei, and I need to speak with the Captain," I explained, fixing my holder on my right shoulder.

"A bet? Are you going to ask the girls to let you play on their team?" Momoshiro-senpai asked me while blinking, not understanding my actions in the least.

"No, I don't want to be on the girls' team," I told him with a sweet giggle as I shook my head, making him blush slightly. "I'm…I'm going to play the Captain in order to be recommended for the boys' Ranking Tournament," I told him softly, getting a tighter grip on my racquet holder and staring down at my brown shoes. "I have to win so that I prove her I am worthy of playing with the boys…"

Momoshiro-senpai was staring at me in shock, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape. I couldn't help but shift nervously under his gaze, fearing he had already started to judge me. His paralyzed state ended soon though when a small smile found its way to his lips and his eyes grew softer as he stared at me gently.

"I see. I wouldn't miss this for anything then," he told me sincerely, finally standing up to his full height. "But you know…winning doesn't always show your true worth."

"…" I stared up at him in wonderment as his words stuck in my mind, disturbing my previous thoughts. Didn't winning a match proved that you were strong enough to go against any opponent? "I…I don't understand…" I finally mumbled.

"All in good time!" Momoshiro simply sent me a toothy grin as he patted my back. "Come, I'll accompany you to talk with the Captain!" He cheered, taking my hand and pulling me forwards towards the tennis courts.

It was right then that I somehow knew…he was meaning to stay for a longer period of time...

"Thank you," I said softly, taking a stronger grip on his hand as I fell into pace with him.

"It's not okay to leave a girl alone, it isn't," he beamed at me, making me smile in content.

"Now that I remember…Nii-san said something about an injured teammate this morning," I started as we kept on walking, gaining his attention quickly. "A-Are you him?" I asked him shyly, tilting my head upwards to try and see his face.

"Yeah…I sprained my right foot during my last match," he told me with a sad smile, and I could see how much he regretted it.

"Ah! I'm sorry Momoshiro-senpai! I didn't mean to remind you about it!" I quickly apologized, blushing in embarrassment.

"No worries!" He chuckled in amusement.

"But…I know how Momoshiro-senpai feels…I hurt my left foot about a year ago. There was a time I couldn't play tennis at all," I confessed quietly, looking down to the ground.

Actually, I don't even know why I'm opening up to this cheerful boy so soon. I haven't spoken about this incident with anyone outside my family, yet something tells me that I can really trust him, and I won't deny I want to make many friends this year.

A big hand suddenly fell on top of my head, patting me gently. Snapping my head up, I found Momoshiro smiling at me brightly with his eyes closed. I blinked a few times in confusion but it was just a matter of seconds before his contagious smile reached my lips.

"Don't worry about it. It's all in the past now, right?" He said, trying to cheer the both of us up. "And I thought I told you to call me Momo-chan," he told me, stuffing his hands on his pant's pockets.

"Momo-chan?" I blinked again as I tested the nickname. "It sounds weird if you ask me. Can I call you Momo-senpai instead?" I suggested, holding my chin in thought. Momo-senpai blinked surprised, but smiled nonetheless.

"Yep, you can call me that," he told me, ruffling my hair since I had let it down for a change.

I laughed and tried to remove his hand, but we suddenly stopped moving once we heard a male voice shouting from over the boys' courts. "How can you use that tone with a junior!" The boy had shouted.

Momo and I shared a look before continuing our walk, reaching the tennis courts after a few steps. We directed our gazes to the closest court just to find three freshmen and two eight graders standing there, the last ones standing as if ready to attack.

The freshmen were wearing white t-shirts with red lining and red shorts, the sports uniform every seventh grader had to use seeing as I too had a pair of red shorts and pants. On the other hand, the older boys were wearing blue pants and jackets just like Momo-senpai, which meant that they were on the same year.

But as I scanned the tennis courts once again, I discovered that there were actually six shadows but only five people. Who knows? Maybe there was one more freshman behind the pole that covered my sight…

"Hmm? Looks like Arai is bullying newcomers again," Momo sighed as he squinted so that he could see the boy's faces clearer. "Oi Kyo-chan, why don't you head to the girls' locker room to change and start warming up? I'll catch up to you once I've taught Arai and Ikeda a lesson," Momo-senpai told me with a smirk and I looked up at him surprised.

"K-Kyo-chan?" I asked him, not understanding my new nickname.

"Oh, I just came up with it. You like it?" He said with a sheepish grin. "Its short for Kikyo-chan since Ki-chan would have sounded weird, if you ask me," he explained me with a goofy grin, purposely quoting me.

"Un, I like it!" I nodded with a childish smile on my lips. Having a brand new nickname…it somehow made me feel warm inside…

"Great! I'll try to hurry up!" He cheered as he pushed me gently by the back towards the direction of the girls' changing room.

I giggled and nodded once more before sprinting towards the locker room. I looked over my shoulder, back to the scene, but I could no longer distinguish the people inside the court. I could only hope Momo would rescue those kids before they got beaten up by those bullies.

I hadn't run much before the locker rooms came to view, right in front of the biggest set of tennis courts. They were simple squared buildings, with a window at the front to get some sunlight into them and another one at the sides to allow the vapor escape from the showers. A simple sign next to the doors read BOYS on the building to my right, and GIRLS on the building to my left.

Guess I found them.

Once I stepped inside of the girls' changing room, I was met by silence and darkness. Turning the light switch on, I discovered that the room was indeed empty. However, I was glad it was because that meant that the girls were still practicing. Not to mention that I just saved myself from an embarrassing explanation.

I walked over to a bench and rested my racquet holder on it before unzipping it, being greeted by the sight of my two racquets. One was my favorite, the one made out of wood that had a lavender-colored hilt, and the other one was of a turquoise color with the handle of a lavender color that spread forming vines and flowers all around the frame. Some people might think that the second one looks prettier, and I think so too, but my brother Yuuta gave the first one to me as a present before I went to London, and it means a lot to me.

I remember that I once had a white racquet that also had a lavender hilt, but I accidentally broke it during a fit. I was actually lucky that I was alone in the park at the moment, or I would have been seen as some psycho. I had been upset for not being able to play tennis after my injury, and I had unconsciously thrown the poor racquet with incredible strength, it breaking in half upon impact.

I shuddered at the thought and returned to what I was doing, finally pulling out the same white tennis outfit I had used during the Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden Tournament. I quickly changed into it and folded my green Seigaku uniform neatly before packing it in my racquet holder. I then walked out the door and looked around me trying to find Momo-senpai. The dirt paths leading to the boys' tennis courts were deserted, so I guess he was still lecturing those juniors.

I smiled at the memory of him; he really knew how to make new friends, something I found hard to do. It's not that I was mean, but jealousy had to find its way into my life, at least that happened with all the girls I knew. It was either because the teachers were kind to me, or because I tried hard to get better grades, or because I could get along with boys no matter whom they were.

But right now I had met a senpai who was very kind with me. So, wanting to give Momoshiro some time to come, that is if he still wanted to, I decided to warm up outside the locker room. Stretching my left leg to the side, I bent my right one to support my weight on it as I bounced up and down slightly, almost touching the ground. I repeated the same steps, this time stretching my right leg. After I was done, I sat down on the ground and stretched my legs to the sides, opening them completely. While doing this side split, I stretched from side to side to touch my toes with both hands, stretching forward to touch the ground next, my forehead also coming into contact with its coldness.

I sighed in content as my muscles started feeling warm with all the stretching, any sleepy thoughts I still had quickly disappearing. After counting up to twenty, I pushed myself back up and stretched my arms up towards the sky, almost wishing to hear my back crack. To finish up, I lifted my left leg forwards, holding it with my hands above my head while maintaining my balance, and then repeated it with my right leg.

I sighed and looked around once more, still not seeing Momo-senpai. Maybe he had gotten in trouble with those bullies, or maybe he didn't want to come anymore...

Shaking those thoughts from my head, I bent down and picked up my wooden racquet, starting to walk towards the courts. A small bird chirped above my head, flying gracefully towards the same direction I was walking too, before giving a sharp turn and landing on top of the wired fence surrounding a set of three tennis courts. Looking inside, I discovered that most of the girls were practicing there, not even noticing my presence. Just like the boys, the second and third years were rallying and the freshmen were doing swings. The atmosphere was too calm for a tennis practice though.

"_I wonder if Ryuzaki-sensei talked with the Captain..._"

My question was quickly answered the moment I reached the gates to the courts and opened them. Hearing the loud creaking of the door, the girls who were closer turned to look at me in confusion, deciding between sending me a kind smile and ignoring me. I looked down so that my bangs could shadow the slight blush dusting my cheeks, using the excuse of watching out for any forgotten balls on the ground.

_Ryuzaki-sensei had not told the whole club._

Standing safely on the sideline, I analyzed the players quickly, trying to find any clue as to who the Captain was. Doing this, I noticed that ten girls were wearing a short white divided skirt that had the name of the school stitched in blue on the lower left corner, a white polo shirt that had Seigaku embroidered on the left side of the chest and blue lines running on the sides and on the short sleeves up to the neck, and white tennis shoes.. It was the girls' Regular's uniform and, as much as they stood out from the rest of the first years who were wearing simple short skirts and polo shirts of different colors, those uniforms weren't as awe inspiring as the Regular Jersey my brother owned.

And still, no girl seemed to be the Captain. There were a few Regulars watching the current rallies and no one was giving orders at the moment. Knowing my time was running out, I started to walk around the three courts, finally finding someone who was alone. The girl was just standing at a corner, her straight white hair with pink streaks swaying softly behind her back with the small breeze, her dark green eyes strongly focused on the yellow tennis ball she was currently bouncing with her short green racquet with a pink grip tape.

"Um...excuse me..." I started shyly, holding my racquet closer to my chest.

The girl turned to look at me with narrowed eyes, probably not liking the fact that I had interrupted her train of thought. However, I cleared my throat to get rid of the nerves and took one step closer, gripping my racquet tighter.

"Could you tell me where can I find the Captain?"

"You don't know?" She told me coldly, making me to shrink back a bit. Seeing I had no intentions of leaving without an answer though she sighed and caught the ball.

"There," she rolled her eyes, pointing with her racquet towards the umpire's chair beside one of the courts.

"Thanks!" I chirped gratefully before sprinting over to where she had pointed, receiving a low grunt from her in return. Scary...

Her directions didn't help much though, since there were at least four girls watching the current rally, not counting the umpire. Approaching carefully, I stood behind the girls while I tried to identify the Captain without success. Guess I'll have to wait until the end of the rally...

"Okay, that's it! Next pair is up!" One of the girls finally announced, clapping her hands a couple of times to gain the players' attention.

The two girls who were rallying started to walk out of the court as the two following girls went to fetch their racquets while chatting excitedly.

Gathering my courage, I stepped up to the girl with dark brown hair tied up in a messy bun, and golden eyes: the one who had given the orders.

"Excuse me…" I called her, softly touching her shoulder to gain her attention.

The girl turned swiftly, sending me a gentle smile the moment she saw me. "Hey, what's up?"

"Um...are you the Captain?" I asked her loud enough for her to hear, tapping my right food on the ground nervously.

"Sure am," she grinned happily at me. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, Ryuzaki-sensei sent me," I told her the truth. Maybe not the whole truth, but at least I wasn't lying.

"Ah, right," she nodded, apparently remembering about me. "You must be Fuji Kikyo-san."

"Hai," I couldn't believe Ryuzaki-sensei had already talked to her! So quick…

"I'm Miyuka Rika, Captain of the girls' tennis team. It's nice to finally meet you."

"Ah, no, the pleasure is mine!" I flushed, bowing repeatedly in front of her.

"So, what's all this mystery about?" She asked me, resting her hands on her hips as she stared at me amusedly.

"Ryuzaki-sensei told me I needed of your consent so please play a match with me!" I begged her, bowing deeply once more.

"Alright," she told me quickly, sending me a sisterly smile.

"R-Really?" I gawked at her.

"Let's enjoy the game!" Miyuka-buchou told me gently, resting her brown racquet with an orange-colored hilt on her right shoulder.

I had thought they were going to kill me for not wanting to be on their team! Does Miyuka-buchou know the whole truth? I wonder how much Ryuzaki-sensei told her...But anyways, I managed to get a match with the Captain!

"Thank you for accepting the challenge, Miyuka-buchou," I bowed gratefully. "I hope we all have a good time!" I told her with a closed-eyed smile.

"Don't worry about it!" She smiled at me again. "Girls, please clear the court!" She addressed her team, clapping her hands to get their attention.

The girls mumbled darkly as they left the court, not liking the idea that a newcomer, not to mention a complete stranger, had oh so easily challenged their Captain. I shifted nervously as I waited in front of the net, starting to feel the few glares some of the eight graders were giving me.

"Which side?" Miyuka-buchou asked me from the other side of the net, holding her racquet upside down on the ground, ready to spin it.

"Huh? Smooth," I told her with a blink, not actually caring who was serving first.

I watched in silence as the brown racquet spun in place before falling backwards, the brown letter stamped at the end of the orange handle ending upside down.

"It's rough," the Captain declared, bending down to pick up her racquet. "Seems I'll be serving first," she turned around, walking over to her baseline.

I too walked over to my baseline, bending my knees a bit as I waited for her to serve. Just remember: take a deep breath…concentrate.

**~*~3rd person's POV~*~**

Momoshiro watched Kikyo rush over to the girls' locker room, and then sighed as he walked towards the bickering boys.

"Just because you were born a year earlier doesn't justify you doing something like this," a short first year wearing the boys' black uniform said, making the older boys twitch in anger.

However, just as the boys took a few steps towards the freshman, Momoshiro tossed a yellow ball in the air and hit it with his dark purple racquet, aiming for the forgotten can. He sent it with such strength that the can shot up to the gates of the court, a dent on one of its sides appearing upon impact. And just as Momoshiro wanted it to happen, the attention of all of the boys was turned in his direction.

"Oh! I hit it! Lucky~!" He chanted in a sing-song voice, moving closer towards the boys.

"Ah! The guy from before!" A boy wearing orange shorts and a green polo-like shirt with white and orange lines running down the sides of it exclaimed, pointing at Momoshiro in shock. Momoshiro just laughed at Horio's comment and stood behind Ryoma, who closed his eyes in irritation.

"Hey, hey, Arai. Just because the seniors aren't here doesn't mean you can bully the new freshmen. You can't either," Momoshiro instructed both of his classmates in a serious tone, making them to shift uncomfortably under his intense gaze.

"Momo, something came up, so I'm leaving first…" Arai excused himself lamely, etching away towards the gates.

"Later," Ikeda said, turning around and running to catch up with his retreating friend.

"Hey, who said you can go?" Momoshiro then stopped Ryoma, seeing as he too had already taken some steps towards the gates.

**~*~Sakuno's POV~*~**

"Huh?" I stopped short once the tennis courts came into view, right beside the boys' changing rooms. Tomo-chan, Inoue-san, and Shiba-san stopped walking as well, rather confused as to why I had stopped.

"What's wrong?" Tomo-chan asked me from behind, leaning forwards as she tried to see my face.

I raised my right hand to my cheek in thought as I stared at the two boys standing in front of the wired gates of the first court. The taller boy was wearing a yellow t-shirt and blue pants and the shorter one, who just reached about the shoulder of his senpai, was wearing the school's uniform. Hang on, if you look closely the short kid looks like…

"Huh? Ryoma-kun…" I thought out loud, making Tomo-chan's eyes to sparkle in interest.

"You know him? Let's go, let's go," she demanded excitedly, grabbing my left arm and dragging me towards the two boys.

"Yup, it's you, Ryoma-kun," I exclaimed happily once we were close enough for them to hear us.

Ryoma then turned his amazing eyes towards us, making Tomo-chan's excited smile to melt into a look of total awe.

"So cool," she breathed out as a dark blush covered her cheeks. "Sakuno, who is this? Introduce him," she demanded again, tugging on my sweater's sleeve to try and get my attention.

"Oh, this is Echizen Ryoma-kun," I told her a little confused since she always knew what was new in school.

I suppose rumors of a handsome boy like Ryoma-kun joining the school would have reached her ears by now, or is it that there are no rumors about him yet?

"Echizen…Ryoma?" I heard Inoue-san say under his breath behind us, probably looking as confused as he sounded.

"Eh, so you're that Echizen Ryoma. Much smaller than I thought…" The tall eighth grader suddenly joined the conversation, resting his dark purple racquet on his right shoulder.

"Who are you?" Ryoma-kun asked him, turning to see him over his shoulder. I had almost forgotten how his voice sounded like…

"I'm Momoshiro Takeshi, second year. I heard from the grandma coach that you can use the Twist Serve?" Momoshiro-san asked Ryoma-kun, curious to know the answer.

"What-! Really!" One of the three freshmen standing by the side asked, his eyes wide in shock.

"What's a Twist Serve?" The freshman with a bowl-cut asked, turning to see his classmate who was wearing a pretty weird green shirt, the one who had exclaimed first.

"Is it awesome?" The almost bald freshman also asked the brown-haired boy.

"Generally speaking, it's the reverse of the slice serve that turns left! But in table tennis, unlike the slice, it bounces when there's a top spin," the boy explained, making all of us to gain confused expressions.

"So in other words, the ball flies straight towards your face. Oh how scary~" Momoshiro-san rephrased once he noticed our lost stares, saying the last part mockingly.

"What about it?" Ryoma-kun asked Momoshiro-san, sending him a mischievous smirk.

"I'll crush you! Have to do it before you start to bud," Momoshiro-san challenged Ryoma-kun, as Tomo-chan and I stared in horror while the three freshmen stared in shock.

**~*~3rd person's POV~*~**

"Echizen! Are you really going to play with that second year Regular!" Horio asked Ryoma, totally amazed as the three freshmen stood around him while he changed into the same outfit he wore during the Kakinokizaka Tennis Tournament.

Ryoma ignored him yet again as he put his blue Fila wristband on along with his signature cap. He then stood up and walked towards the net, standing on the opposite side of Momoshiro.

"Which?" Momo-senpai asked Ryoma, resting his racquet upside down on the floor and holding it by the handle.

"Smooth," Ryoma answered, sinking his hands in his black short's pockets while he held his red racquet in-between his right side and right arm.

"Which?" Kachiro repeated not understanding the vocabulary.

"Smooth?" Katsuo asked too, turning to exchange confused glances with Kachiro.

"Jeez, this is why I don't like beginners. That is a tennis term used to determine who serves first. If the grip faces right side up, it is called smooth. If it is upside down, it's rough," Horio lectured, holding up his own orange racquet to show them. Momoshiro nodded at his explanation and finally spun his racquet, letting it fall to the ground.

"To bad, it's rough," Momoshiro informed, the purple 'M' on the black handle of his racquet being upside down. "I'll let you serve and take this court," Momo-senpai declared, motioning with his thumb behind him towards the side of the court he was standing on.

"Momoshiro-senpai, don't you want to serve first? You won the toss," Horio asked him confused, not understanding why Momo had let Ryoma serve first.

"I want to see the Twist Serve right away. There aren't many freshmen who can do the Twist Serve, right?" Momo reasoned with a small smirk, making Horio's eyes to shine in admiration.

"M-Momoshiro-senpai, you're so cool!" He awed, holding both fists up to his chest.

"You can call me Momo-chan," Momo-senpai said with a sweat drop, actually finding his name quite long.

"No, I can't call you Momo-chan. Can I be the chair umpire?" Horio asked stubbornly, finding it totally disrespectful, not to mention awkward, to call his senpai 'Momo-chan'.

"Oh, go ahead," Momoshiro cheerfully accepted his request, watching how Horio climbed excitedly the small set of stairs in order to reach the umpire's chair located beside the net, outside of the court.

"Hurry up and start the game," Ryoma called over, extremely bored by now.

"Err…and now…The game between Momoshiro-senpai and Echizen Ryoma will begin. The referee will be me, Horio, who has two years of tennis experience," Horio announced, holding up his right arm as the umpires often did.

"Forget about all that and start the game!" Tomoka shouted from behind the metal gate, interrupting him before he kept on bragging.

"So now, the best of one set match. Echizen service play," Horio finally continued after flinching at Tomoka's outburst.

Ryoma tossed the ball upwards, and hit it soon after, sending it rather fast towards Momo's right side. Momoshiro had barely moved when the ball bounced outside of the court, making the spectators to watch in shock.

"Fault!" Horio called, and at the same time Tomoka cried out in awe.

"Yes, yes! Ryoma-sama is so cool!" She exclaimed, making both Sakuno and Shiba to turn and look at her strangely.

"Wait, that was a fault, so he has to serve again. If he faults again, it's a point for Momoshiro-kun," Shiba instructed her, pointing a finger to emphasize.

"Really? Ryoma-sama…" Tomoka whined, as she got teary eyed at the thought of her dear Ryoma losing the match.

"But the serve was really fast!" Kachiro awed, watching the match expectantly, and Katsuo quickly agreed.

"I don't want slice serves. You don't have to be so stingy," Momoshiro told Ryoma, pointing his purple racquet in his direction.

"I don't want to," Ryoma deadpanned, smirking cockily.

"Arrogant brat," Momo said under his breath, watching how Ryoma bounced the ball with his left hand, readying for his next serve.

"Twist…Serve?" Sakuno wondered out loud after having inspected Ryoma's pose.

And sure enough, Ryoma did the Twist Serve, aiming towards Momo-senpai's right wrist, making him to drop his racquet.

"Twist Serve! Unbelievable! I can't believe a junior high student can use that serve," Inoue said surprised, watching the game with wide eyes.

"Sugoi! Ryoma-sama is getting cooler by the minute!" Tomoka squealed, a dark blush spreading all across her face yet again.

"Scary, scary! Caught me off guard!" Momo yelled over to Ryoma, who hadn't moved from the baseline.

"Are you okay? You're sweating," Ryoma teased him with a smirk, watching in amusement how Momo's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"That punk," Momo whispered with a small grin, determined to return that Twist Serve.

"15-love," Horio called, raising his right arm again.

Ryoma served again with his Twist Serve, but this time Momo-senpai moved up to reach it while it was still spinning. The ball made contact with the racquet this time, but it hit the net when Momoshiro tried to return it.

"Looks like I can't return it with good timing alone. Interesting," Momo commented, brushing back his hair with both of his hands.

"Even Momoshiro Takeshi, a Seigaku Regular, is losing in a power battle," Inoue realized, staring intently at both teens standing in front of him.

"30-love. Echizen leads," Horio announced, just as Ryoma was preparing another Twist Serve.

This time, Momo used the same timing but added more strength in his return. The ball hit the top of the net and bounced weakly on Ryoma's court, earning Momoshiro's first point.

"Oh, lucky! I was lucky," Momoshiro exclaimed while doing the peace sign with his left hand.

"That person…is starting to receive his serves…" Sakuno said worriedly, holding onto the metal fence to take a closer look.

"That was his first! Ryoma-sama's Twist Serve is still unbeatable!" Tomoka barked beside her, scolding her for doubting Ryoma's ability.

Next it was another Twist Serve, and this time, Momoshiro actually returned it correctly. The audience gasped in shock once they saw the Twist Serve being returned, but that didn't stop Ryoma. He appeared in front of the net and hit the ball back to Momoshiro's court, and he quickly returned it. But to his dismay, Ryoma hit it back softly with his racquet, making the ball bounce just a few inches away from the net.

The thing is, the moment Momoshiro went to run towards the ball, he felt a sting of pain in his ankle and fell down. "Drop volley…you can do that too?" Momo whined over to Ryoma from his sitting position on the floor, pointing at the ball resting in his side of the court.

"40-15," Horio called, and Ryoma just lowered his cap by the brim a bit more.

"Ryoma-sama! Do your best!" Tomoka cheered in a high-pitched tone, making Sakuno to flinch a little.

"I can't tell who's going to win…to be able to play like this to a second year Regular, Echizen is no typical guy," Katsuo commented, staring from Momoshiro to Ryoma consecutively.

Inoue then took out a camera and focused it on Ryoma, taking a few pictures of him, and it was when he stared into his eyes with the digital zoom that he finally realized something.

"Those eyes…That boy…Echizen Ryoma…is Echizen Nanjirou's…" He trailed off out of pure shock, not being able to say the word 'son'.

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

"15 all!"

God! Why did you let me get myself involved in something as insane as this! Big brother is so going to give me another speech about thinking through things before acting…

"30-15!"

Agh! I need to stop thinking like this! Come on Kikyo, you can do this!

"40-15!" The girl playing referee announced again, only making me panic more at the idea of the Captain having caught up with me so quickly.

We had been tied with three games each, but now Miyuka-buchou had quickly taken the advantage again. I had to get at least a deuce, which would give me more chances of winning a one-game advantage. I couldn't be left behind, not when spending the rest of the year improving alongside my brother was at risk. I needed to show them I could do this…to Miyuka-buchou…to Ryuzaki-sensei…I couldn't disappoint Momo-senpai either!

"I can't give up yet!" I unconsciously said aloud as I did a pirouette and returned a crosscourt shot from the Captain, winning the next point.

"40-30!"

I locked gazes with the Captain as I panted for air, trying to reduce the nervous shaking of my body. As if on cue, a gush of wind picked up a few Sakura petals and made them dance around me, as if encouraging me to continue. I sighed and smiled…I can do this.

**~*~3rd Person's POV~*~**

"If he get's this in, it's Ryoma-kun's win," Kachiro said as they all kept on watching the game.

Momoshiro's foot was hurting a bit and he new he had extended the game a little bit more than intended. As both opponents kept on staring at one another intently, a strong gush of wind blew all over the campus, taking a few petals from the Sakura trees surrounding the courts and playing with them around both students.

"Mada mada dane," Ryoma eventually said, slowly changing his racquet to his left hand while holding two yellow balls in his right one.

"Ah, I remember," Sakuno whispered, having actually forgotten that Ryoma was left-handed.

"Time out!" Momoshiro called out just as Ryoma was raising his arm to toss the ball, ready to do another Twist Serve. "I quit. It's over. I'll let you go now," Momo decided, raising his left hand as an apology, earning surprised looks from the freshmen.

"Doesn't matter to me," Ryoma said emotionlessly, walking out of the court to put away his racquet.

"Wow! You were great! To play evenly with that second year!" Horio praised him, jumping off the umpire's chair and standing beside Ryoma along with Kachiro and Katsuo while he closed his racquet holder.

"That was great, Ryoma-kun," Katsuo was quick to comment.

"I was very surprised!" Kachiro put in his thoughts, smiling excitedly at no one in particular.

"Echizen, which club did you train at?" Horio then asked, bending over and resting his hands on his knees as his eyes stayed fixed on Ryoma in amazement.

"Temple," was the hazel-eyed boy's only reply, making the group surrounding him to blink in astonishment.

"Kya! This is so cool! Let's go see him!" Tomoka called over to Sakuno, closing her right eye in a wink.

"Wait, Tomoka-chan!" Sakuno said desperately, since Tomoka had grabbed her arm and dragged her over to where Ryoma was.

"Good to make your acquaintance! I'm a friend of Ryuzaki Sakuno. My name is Osakada Tomoka, nice to meet you!" Tomoka introduced herself with hearts in her eyes, making Ryoma stop in mid way of taking his shirt off so that he could take a glance at them.

"Konnichiwa, Ryoma-kun. I'm sorry about last time," Sakuno greeted shyly, blushing madly once she realized she could have just seen Ryoma without a shirt.

"Ryuzaki Sakuno…? Who's that?" Ryoma asked bluntly, watching both of them emotionlessly.

"Who's that? You don't remember? I'm shocked!" Sakuno stuttered while whining, looking sadly at Ryoma's blunt face.

"Are you okay with this, Momoshiro?" A voice suddenly said from behind the eighth grader, making him shift his gaze from the group of freshmen to look over his shoulder at the newly arrived.

"Oh, Grandma…" Momoshiro said, recognizing the coach of the Seigaku tennis club.

"At this rate, that freshman would have run all over you," Ryuzaki-sensei pointed out, watching how Momoshiro rubbed the back of his head.

"You could be right…" He replied, watching how the freshmen were talking enthusiastically to Ryoma.

"Be serious. If your right foot wasn't sprained, you could've…" Sakuno's grandmother trailed off, looking down at Momoshiro's ankle.

"Nope, he knew it from the start. He used his other hand to play a senpai. Must be his handicap. How scary~" Momo told her, watching how the two girls now joined the group of boys. "I met Fuji's little sister on my way here," Momo suddenly said nonchalantly, tapping his shoulder with his racquet.

"Huh? You met Kikyo-chan?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked curiously, uncrossing her arms and looking at him surprised.

"Yep, she told me about the bet she made with you…and about the incident that happened a year ago…?" He remembered, turning to glance at his coach in question.

"She sprained the muscle of her left foot badly during a forced basketball match," Ryuzaki-sensei sighed with a nod. "She still can't force it very much, but she doesn't want anybody to know. I guess she really thinks of you as a friend if she told you that, not even Ryoma knows, so please keep it a secret," Ryuzaki-sensei explained, earning a small smile from Momo-senpai.

"She's a nice girl. Whoa, wait! Echizen knows her!" Momo asked, once he caught that small phrase Ryuzaki-sensei had said.

"They played together in the US, and more recently in the Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden," Sakuno's grandmother informed the stunned Momoshiro, but just as he was about to ask something else, he was interrupted by the freshmen's talking, seeing as the both of them had walked closer to the small group unconsciously.

"Then, don't you remember anything about Kikyo-san either?" Sakuno was asking Ryoma, looking down at him with a very well hidden anger in her eyes. To her surprise, his eyes sparkled in recognition, and she even had to take a step back after seeing the piercing look he was giving her.

"What about her?" Ryoma asked in a somewhat cold tone. Sakuno started to stutter incoherent things then, not actually having an answer.

"She's currently playing with the girls in the other courts. I'm actually heading over there to cheer her on, if you want to come," Momoshiro told them, making their attention drift in his direction.

"I might as well take a look," Ryoma said nonchalantly, picking up his racquet holder and deciding to stay in his red tennis outfit.

"O-Oi, chotto matte!" Momoshiro called out for him to wait, seeing as he had already started walking, before sprinting over to his side.

"Fuji Kikyo?" Horio asked, blinking at the retreating forms of Momo and Ryoma.

"Who's that?" Kachiro asked, looking over to Katsuo who shook his head in denial, silently telling him he didn't know either.

"Oi, Ryoma-sama! Wait for us!" Tomoka screeched, dragging Sakuno behind her as she stomped over to the girls' tennis courts.

The freshmen trio then shared a look between themselves before they too sprinted after their classmates.

"Come Shiba, this may result interesting as well," Inoue told his childish teammate, starting to follow the young students in a calm pace alongside Ryuzaki-sensei.

**~*~Sakuno's POV~*~**

Once Tomo-chan and I finally arrived to the girls' courts, we saw that Momoshiro-san and Ryoma-kun were already standing in front of one.

"Game won by Fuji! 5 games to 4," I then heard a girl call, and immediately Tomo-chan pulled me over towards Ryoma-kun.

"Sugoi! Who would have thought Kyo-chan could be one game ahead of the Captain!" Momoshiro-senpai exclaimed, looking wide-eyed at the two girls panting on the courts.

"She's one game behind," Ryoma rolled his eyes, pointing over to the score board. Honestly, and that boy called himself a Regular?

"Oh, I see," Momoshiro chuckled slightly. "My mistake."

The rest of the freshmen and the adults came just as Tomo-chan and I were looking over at the players. One of them was surely Kikyo-san, her long lavender hair pulled up in a lazy ponytail to keep her bangs off her eyes, the other one probably being in third year and a few inches taller than her.

"Isn't she Miyuka Rika, Captain of the Seigaku girls' tennis team?" Inoue-san suddenly wondered out loud, making Shiba to look at him shocked.

"She's playing against the Captain!" Shiba asked amazed, not actually believing what she was seeing.

"She's lacking stamina," I heard Ryoma comment, an amused tone present in his voice.

"That's…That's a Rainbow Lob!" Inoue-san then exclaimed and, as I turned to look at the game once again, I did notice that the lob took the arching form of a rainbow.

Miyuka-san had launched the lob from over the baseline, and it was heading directly to Kikyo-san's baseline forming a wide arch on the air while she was still up in front of the net.

"She won't make it!" Kachiro exclaimed, having a worried expression as well as his two friends.

Kikyo seemed to have thought that as well, since her lips parted slightly in a worried grimace as she walked backwards while moving her feet strangely, as if she was dancing.

"It's no use! She won't reach the baseline in time!" Horio said, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head out of pure nervousness.

Kikyo-san's head rose as she followed the ball with her gaze, probably measuring if she could reach it with a jump. However, the distanced seemed to be too big since she turned completely around and broke into a mad dash in order to reach the baseline before the tennis ball. She stretched her arm and somehow managed to hit the ball back to the net.

All of our jaws touched the ground, even the girls Regulars', once we heard the deaf sound of the ball hitting the net, followed by the tapping of the ball on the ground…Well, at least everyone else but Ryoma, who just stared emotionlessly at the outcome. Having concentrated in returning the shot, Kikyo had forgotten to add extra strength to her return, making the ball bounce on the net before it fell on the Captain's side of the court, miraculously earning her the point.

"Sugoi! She returned it!" Everyone now exclaimed, either with relieve, shock, or amazement.

The trio even pumped their fists in the air while they cheered. I then heard Tomo-chan growling a bit beside me, and when I saw her face, I realized she was actually glaring at Kikyo-san.

"I can't believe it…how can she get this much attention? Even Ryoma-sama came to see her play!" She whispered dangerously, as she shook a bit in anger. I couldn't help but to sigh and sweat drop at her reaction, even though I was feeling almost the same deep inside.

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

"30-15," the referee announced. I had to get even with the Captain now if I wanted to win…If I wanted the Captain to recommend me to Ryuzaki-sensei.

However, seeing as I don't posses any kind of superpowers to conserve my stamina for so long, I'm totally about to collapse. The loose hair from my quickly-made ponytail is sticking to my skin because of the sweat, I feel my whole body burning from the outside either if it's because of the sun or the effort I'm making, my limbs have started to shake as if they were screaming their agony, and my vision is starting to blur. I have never felt so exhausted in my whole life, since my brother would immediately stop playing with me once he'd noticed my condition. But there's no way I'm backing up now, not when I'm about to lose my last chance of getting the lead.

I took a deep breath to clear the fog from my eyes before raising my head again. I guess that they had chose Miyuka-buchou as Captain because she was patient and friendly, but not so much because of a special move like Tezuka-buchou. I did have some problems with her Rainbow Lob at first, but I had eventually seen through it: she would twist her foot to the left the moment she was about to do it. It was true that Miyuka-buchou was energetic and fast, being able to take 5 games out of me, but I somehow had to end this quickly. I could even see that some people had come to watch. Since when did they arrive anyway?

I pulled a ball out of my skirt's pocket and walked over to the baseline, preparing to do that quick serve I demonstrated in the Kakinokizaka Tennis Garden. Miyuka-buchou stared wide-eyed as I did the Grand Battement, the sound of the impact of the ball against metal coming right afterwards.

"30 all," the referee stuttered, while her eyes were glued to the dark mark the ball had left on one corner of her service box.

"W-What was that?" Was the question I mostly heard from over our small crowd.

"Unfortunately, I haven't thought of a name for this serve yet," I said quietly, smiling sadly. I knew that for now, only me, Ryoma, and my brother were the only ones able to come up with a name for it, since it was too fast for someone else to see.

We were finally about to reach the match point, but feeling way too tired to try another quick serve, I served a normal overhead serve. though adding a little bit of speed. Miyuka-buchou obviously returned it, and to my surprise it was a heavy ball. Taking me off guard, the ball pushed my racquet out of my hand before landing a couple of feet away from me.

"40-30," the referee called, as I looked at my racquet from over my shoulder in shock.

I turned around and picked it up with dignity, walking over to the baseline for what I feared to be my last serve. I served normally again, and Miyuka-buchou and me got caught in a rally in almost no time. She eventually jumped to make a smash the moment I lobbed the ball a little bit during my last hit, but I ran towards the net and received the smash. having to hold my racquet with both hands. I grunted as I finally managed to swing it back over the net but Miyuka-buchou had done it on purpose, as I soon realized.

She aimed the ball towards the middle of my side of the court but I quickly turned around in another pirouette with my left arm outstretched. Just as I had expected, I hit the ball as it was passing by my side, sending it back to Miyuka-buchou's side of the court while my back was facing her. I then turned around once again and returned the next ball in order to start another rally, my feet moving graciously all the time.

**~*~Sakuno's POV~*~**

Our eyes had been glued to the ball for the whole rally, going from left to right, from right to left, back and forth. I was starting to wonder when was this match going to end, and that's when we all realized Kikyo-san had started to make a move. Now, every time she hit the ball she would change her feet and arms into a gracious pose. Looking closer, I realized that in some cases, she would even stand on her toes, incredibly keeping her balance and the rhythm of the rally.

It was on one of those moments that she gracefully leaped forwards, landing on her upper right leg which was bent towards the right while her left leg was bent backwards. And to everyone's surprise, she held the racquet in front of her chest and did a drop shot…Or was it a volley?

"Whoa! What was that!" The three freshmen chorused, trying to make a guess at what she had just done.

"Did you look at her feet? It was as if she was dancing…" Momoshiro-san tried to help the freshmen, but his voice soon faded as he watched Kikyo-san standing up and dusting her white skirt off.

"Ballet," Ryoma-kun said out of the blue, finishing Momoshiro-san's thoughts.

We all turned to look at him amazed, but he never returned the stare since his eyes were fixed on Kikyo-san.

"That's right. And this technique does have a name, actually," Obaa-chan suddenly said, making us to turn to look at her surprised since we had frankly forgotten she was there. "That was the Swan Volley," she informed us, making us to blink while we repeated the name out loud, trying to understand it. "Ryoma, would you mind telling us Kikyo's favorite ballets?" Obaa-chan then turned to ask Ryoma-kun with a teasing grin, making him to lower his cap by the brim to cover his bright eyes.

"The Nutcracker, the Sleeping Beauty…" Ryoma-kun answered reluctantly, and it shocked me to see that he actually knew.

"And…" Obaa-chan pressed, leaning forward a bit with her hands on her hips, enjoying the moment.

"The Swan Lake," Ryoma finished, closing his eyes and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"That's right. Those steps she made back there were actually from the Swan Lake ballet, therefore his name. It actually confuses the opponent, making them think she will hit a deep shot and never expecting a volley or the other way around," Obaa-chan explained, while we looked at her in awe.

"So she plays 'Ballet Tennis', just like Kikumaru-senpai has his 'Acrobatic Tennis'," Momoshiro-san reasoned, smirking at the new challenge.

"Ballet isn't everything she knows!" Obaa-chan laughed.

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

"Deuce!" The referee called this time, meaning we were 40-all. I really didn't know if I felt truly encouraged by that since, apart from giving me a small chance of playing one more game with the Captain, it also meant my limbs would have to endure another good minutes of running.

"Eh~ What are you doing?" Miyuka-buchou asked me out of breath as she readied a return, staring amusedly at how I started to hop on my place.

"A last minute resource," I smiled weakly over at her, using this hopping technique to quicken my step. My dad had taught me this step when he still played tennis; he said it was called the Split Step. He also said it would be better to keep it as a secret and for desperate times, and I count these two next points as 'desperate'.

"Advantage server," the referee announced, indicating I had won one of the two points needed to win after a deuce.

"Ah, I see…Split Step, huh?" The Captain nodded, eyeing my footwork carefully as the game progressed. "It's good…but not fast enough," she sentenced, hitting a deep crosscourt shot while I was up at the front of the net.

I gasped and sprinted over to the left corner of the court, extending my arm at its full length in a desperate attempt of hitting the ball with my racquet. I was not fast enough though and the ball bounced out of the court before I could even swing.

"Deuce!" The umpire shouted again. I frowned slightly as I started to feel the angst press against my chest. Time was running out.

I walked back over to my service line and pulled out a tennis ball from my skirt's pocket, bouncing it a few times to canalize my nerves. Taking a deep breath, I threw the ball upwards and jumped a bit to hit it just as it was falling back down. The ball went flying above my side of the court but hit the top of the net and fell softly into Miyuka-buchou's side of the court.

"Let!" The referee decided, giving me another chance to serve. I grabbed one of the balls laying around and bounced it again, starting to feel lightheaded because of the fatigue. I served again, but I soon realized it had been too weak to even reach past the net. "Fault!"

"_Calm down, Kikyo, calm down. You don't want to mess this up_," I encouraged myself silently, tightening my grip on the ball. "_Just two more serves_."

A rally soon started again but, unlike other occasions, it didn't last long. My grip on my racquet had weakened as my stamina decreased while Miyuka-buchou could keep on sending powerful shots over at me. I could hear a few encouraging shouts coming from outside the court set, but the ringing inside my head and my blood thumping by my ears was making it almost impossible for me to decipher them. I wonder what they are saying…what my brother would say if he saw me right now.

"Advantage receiver!" I suddenly heard the umpire call, abruptly bringing me back to the game. This is bad…I'm so tired I even started to drift into my own thoughts.

"Oi!" The Captain suddenly called me, making me shift my gaze over at her. "Do you want us to stop?"

"N-No!" I panted frantically. "Please, it isn't over yet!" I somehow managed to tell her, knowing my voice sounded a bit hoarse because of my dried throat.

"Alright, let's hurry then," she sent me an understanding smile, bending over into a receiving position on one side of her baseline.

We quickly started a new rally with me using the Split Step as a tool for speed and conserving the miniscule amount of stamina I still had. Miyuka-buchou clearly wanted to finish the match since she too was starting to feel tired so she ran over to the net and started to attack. I could barely reach her shots in time, somehow managing to return them over the net. However, after almost an hour of having played nonstop, my body finally started giving out, making me stagger a bit as I got ready to return her last shot. Miyuka-buchou used this chance to shoot a drop shot though.

I knew this was my last stance as I broke into a mad dash to hit the ball before it landed on my court. I had given everything I had in this match and maybe the Captain might let us continue the match later, once I had recovered my breath. All I had to do is prove I could still go on…

_Pock_

The hollow sound of the ball hitting the net filled my ears as I watched the yellow ball roll uselessly on my side of the court. I was on the ground, having dived in my last wish of fighting. Still, that hadn't been enough to send the ball over the net…

"Game and match. Won by Miyuka Rika," the referee announced in a low tone, almost as if fearing to break the utter silence that had filled the court.

I closed my eyes and tried to take deep breaths to reduce my panting; hiding my face in my arms to prevent other people from seeing me in case I broke down. My breathing came out ragged as I pushed myself into a kneeling position, whipping the tears that had perched themselves on my eyelashes. I had failed…I wouldn't play with Syusuke this year after all…

"Great game," I heard Miyuka-buchou's voice above me, and I had to crook my neck backwards so that I could lock gazes with her. "You really deserve to be placed in the boys' team," Miyuka-buchou praised me while she extended her hand over at me, waiting for me to shake it.

"Wha-?" I mumbled dumbly, staring up at her in confusion as I absentmindedly shook hands with her. "But…I didn't win…"

"And I wasn't expecting you to!" Miyuka-buchou chuckled happily. "You have showed me you are worthy of our trust. I'm confident you won't stop fighting on further matches and that you will learn from your defeats…just like us!" She beamed at me, pulling me up to my feet effortlessly.

"T-Thank you…?" I mumbled, blinking owlishly at the brunette, still not registering the information.

"I hope I get to play with you again someday soon," she nodded at me, turning around and walking towards the rest of her team.

I stood by the net for a few more seconds, staring absentmindedly at the ground. Was the Captain going to tell Ryuzaki-sensei it was okay to let me join the boys' club? But…why? I hadn't won like I had hoped to…I had only showed her how little stamina I had been left with after almost a year without playing tennis…

"Oi! Kyo-chan!"

"Huh?" I blinked out of my daze, quickly whipping my head in the direction of the gates to the courts. Momo-senpai was standing there, waving his arms enthusiastically above his head as if motioning me over.

"Momo-senpai! You came!" I yelled over at him as my face lighted up with a bright smile, breaking into a light sprint to reach him sooner. As to be expected, I was greeted by Momo-senpai's strong arms that lifted me up as if I was a feather, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug.

"Sugoi, Kyo-chan! I can't believe you actually put up a fight like that! I can't!" He congratulated me, rocking softly to the sides as I held on to him in a bear hug, not minding I was covered in sweat at all.

"I did it, Momo-senpai!" I whispered happily at him, finding no use in screaming since I had his ear right beside my mouth. "Miyuka-buchou told me she was going to tell Ryuzaki-sensei!"

"Really?" He asked me excitedly, slightly pulling me away so that he could take a look at my watery eyes. "Yeah! We'll have a cute kouhai under our care!" He cheered, spinning around wildly as I laughed happily.

"I'm tired though," I mumbled, resting my head on his shoulder and closing my eyes.

"Haha, you silly doll," Momo-senpai laughed, gently putting me down just to ruffle my hair for second time that day.

"Stop it, Momo-senpai," I tried to say in-between giggles as I took off my ponytail, if you could still call it that.

That's when I finally took notice of the rest of the people staring at us perplexed, not actually knowing how to take that display of caring between me and my senpai. Now that I could take the time to see their faces, I managed to recognize Inoue-san, Ryuzaki-sensei and her granddaughter. Osakada Tomoka was standing right beside Sakuno, and there was also a woman standing beside Inoue, silently gushing about the cute scene she had just witnessed. There were also three boys in the scene, probably the ones who had been being bullied by those sophomores.

"Now, now, don't be rude and introduce yourself," Momo-senpai teased me, elbowing me gently by the ribs once he found the shy blush that was starting to creep up my cheeks. I sent him a cute pout but bowed nonetheless, my loosen bangs falling by my sides. For shy as I may be when talking to strangers, I knew better than to be impolite.

"I'm Fuji Kikyo, pleased to meet you!" I recited sweetly, straightening up and giving them a close-eyed smile, doing my best to stop the blush from getting darker.

"Kawaii!" The three freshmen breathed out as a light blush covered their cheeks, hearts replacing their eyes anime-style. One of them then walked up towards me, grabbing both of my hands in a 'seductive' way.

"I'm Horio Satoshi, a first year with two years of tennis experience," he introduced himself, making me to blink a couple of times as an anime sweat drop formed at the back of my head.

"And I'm Kachiro Katou, and this is my friend Katsuo Mizuno," the boy with a bowl-cut introduced himself and his friend, as they both bowed in respect. I smiled at them, but that's when I saw him: a shorter boy standing further away, wearing a white cap with a red R on the front.

"Huh? Ryoma-kun?" I whispered, peering over their heads, where I saw a quiet Echizen with his cap covering his eyes yet again.

I smiled hopefully and walked towards him, standing right in front of him as everyone stared in curiosity. I pouted once I realized Ryoma had no intentions of looking at me, so I took his hat by the brim and lifted it a little bit.

"It is you, Ryoma-kun," my voice jingled once his hazel eyes met mine, and I couldn't resist the urge to smile. I completely took off his cap and placed it on my head, spinning around happily. "Yay, yay, yay! It really is you!" I chanted like a little child as I clung to Ryoma's neck and gave small hops of joy. However, a hand shot out and grabbed me by the back of my shirt's collar, pulling me away from the confused Ryoma.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing! You can't touch or talk to Ryoma-sama without my permission!" Osakada yelled directly on my face, making me to bend backwards a bit in order to put some distance in-between our faces.

"O-Osakada-san…?" I blinked, lifting my hands up in front of me nervously.

"I, Osakada Tomoka, as the founder of Ryoma-sama's fan club, can't let you do it!" She yelled at me again, but this time straightening up and pointing her thumb at her chest proudly.

"T-Tomo-chan…" I then heard a quiet voice saying helplessly, and as I looked at the side of the proud girl I found Sakuno.

"Ah! Sakuno-chan! How have you been?" I asked her with a smile, repeatedly staring back at Tomoka in case she got angry for being ignored so easily.

"F-Fine thank you, Kikyo-san," she told me quietly with a nod, looking down at her feet shyly.

"That's…great…" I smiled softly, rubbing my left arm awkwardly.

Everyone seemed to feel the uncomfortable atmosphere because Inoue-san coughed loudly besides Ryuzaki-sensei and Ryoma shifted boringly a couple of feet away from us. I had to say something…anything!

"Oi, Ryoma-kun!" I called the first name that popped into my head.

"Hmm?" Ryoma questioned quietly, his attention not being the only one turning towards me.

"Let's have a match!" I challenged him without thinking while pointing my racquet in his direction, his cap slipping down to cover my left eye in a cute way though, since it was a little bit bigger than my head.

Of all the things I had to say…I had to go and say that. Definitely not credible.

"Don't want to," he simply replied, making me fidget with the hilt of my racquet nervously.

"What! Why not?" I asked with a sweat drop, laughing sheepishly at all the stares I was getting.

"You've already played a long match today. You're tired and you won't be at your full potential," he reasoned while he reached out and claimed his cap once more, smirking teasingly at me as if telling me he had seen through my challenge.

"Not even you play with your full potential…" I pouted at him, lowering my racquet to my side, also dropping the challenge.

"Well, it was a wonderful match, Kikyo-chan," Ryuzaki-sensei suddenly spoke, taking a few steps forwards so that she could be standing in front of me. "Why don't you go change now? It's getting quite late already," she smiled at both me and Ryoma, turning then to the rest of the freshmen and Momo-senpai who were using their sports uniform as well.

"But…what about school?" I asked her, pointing over at the school building in confusion.

"Today classes end earlier," Momo-senpai smiled down at me. "We just had to come meet the teachers and sign up for the clubs since it's our first day."

"Oh, I guess I forgot about it," I grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck nervously.

"Well, now that that's settled, go change," Ryuzaki-sensei commanded, reaching up and pinching Momo-senpai's ear softly, making him wince.

"Un, we'll be right back!" I nodded at her, slipping past all the adults and heading to the locker rooms, being followed by the rest of my classmates.

I was quick to change back into my green uniform again, greatly regretting I didn't stop at the water fountain to have a drink first. Episodes of today's match kept on replaying on my mind as I tried to understand the Captain's decision, though I didn't manage to reach a logical reason. Although it was quite strange, I honestly couldn't be any happier now. Even if I didn't get to participate in tournaments, I would be able to practice together with my big brother and his friends!

Finally stepping out of the changing room, I was more than surprised once I was greeted with the sight of Ryuzaki-sensei, Momo-senpai, Ryoma, and the two journalists waiting for me outside. They all looked up the moment they heard the door closing, but it was Ryuzaki-sensei the one who spoke to me.

"Ah, there you are Kikyo-chan! I received a very worried call from your mother just now, so I asked Momoshiro and Ryoma here to walk you home," Ryuzaki-sensei told me in a slight teasing tone, making me to stare at them all, a little taken aback after this burst of information.

"Please, I don't want to be a bother," I smiled kindly at them, shaking my hands in front of me as if to dismiss such an idea.

Fixing the strap of my racquet holder on my shoulder, I started to walk away, trying to escape the odd situation. That is, before Momo-senpai stopped me by grabbing my wrist gently.

"Come on, what are you saying? You are not a bother at all," he reassured me with a warm smile, letting go of my wrist before his finger leaved marks as it had almost happened with my cheek.

"Says who?" Ryoma was quick to correct Momo's statement while looking off to the other side, earning a glare from the older boy.

"You bastard, how can you say that to a girl!" Momo barked at him, whirling around to face him.

However, Ryoma paid him no heed and stuffed his hands in his black uniform's pockets, lowering his head so that his dark green locks covered his eyes. I presume he had stuffed his white cap in his tennis bag alongside his tennis outfit. However, I felt far from offended, already knowing Ryoma's teasing attitude.

"Stop it you two!" Ryuzaki-sensei finally snapped at the two boys, making Momo-senpai to hump and turn his back to the shorter Echizen. "I actually asked them to because their homes are not too far away from yours, and your sister has just picked up Fuji not too long ago," Sakuno's grandmother explained, the glare she had been giving the boys quickly fading into a small smile the moment she laid eyes on me again.

"_Wow, time_!" I thought, widening my eyes slightly as I caught part of her sentence. "_D-Did she say that…t-that Syusuke was at home_!"

"Nii-san's back home!" I winced, my voice raising a few tones in a whine, making the boys to look at me confused.

Ryuzaki-sensei placed her hands on her hips and nodded her head with a smirk. I groaned and leaned back on the wall of the girls' changing room, raising my right hand to place it on my forehead.

"He's probably freaking out by now…I wonder if he would dare call the police…" I mused to myself, closing my eyes and smiling slightly at the sight of my freaked out brother calling the cops.

"Actually, he was going to," my brother's coach chuckled in amusement. "That's why I told him Momo and Ryoma were walking you there," she finished, a part of her statement sounding a bit strange. Scratch that, the whole statement sounded wrong.

"You didn't even ask them if they could," I realized, staring at her in shock. Did she intend to make me feel guilty?

"Or wanted, for that matter," Ryoma deadpanned once again, making me to gain a sweat drop after noticing that Ryuzaki-sensei was not regretting it at all.

I sighed in defeat and took a step away from the wall I was using for support, once again fixing my racquet bag on my shoulder. If I couldn't stop them from coming with me, the least I could do was to make things quicker for them.

"Well, let's get going then! It will be dark if we don't hurry up," I chirped with an excited grin, leaning forwards and taking one of Momo-senpai's hands with my both smaller ones. He seemed surprised once I started to drag him away from the adults, Ryoma slowly trailing behind us hopelessly.

It was just then that I remembered the reason of why I was still at school at this hour, and stopped right on my tracks before turning around once more to look at Ryuzaki-sensei, Momo-senpai also stopping beside me.

"Don't forget to talk to Tezuka-kun, Ryuzaki-sensei!" I called back to her, though she just smiled warily and waved us all away.

I smiled at her and waved goodbye to the two journalists but, the moment I was turning back around, I managed to catch a glimpse of a shadow by one of the building's windows. I stopped for a moment to try and see something of this person, curiosity taking the best of me once more. I could tell that it was a tall boy and, by the looks of it, he was crossing his arms over his chest. A strayed ray of sunlight then hit glass, making me realize that the boy was wearing glasses. Thanks to that gleam over them, I was able to see that he was actually staring at me…

"Exactly how long are you planning to stay frozen over there?" Ryoma's voice got me out of my trance, making me to turn and see him as he walked past me and Momo-senpai.

"Sorry," I said, as I shook my head to rid myself of the image of the strange boy. I finally let go of Momo's hand and we both followed Ryoma, every step we took taking us farther away from the tennis courts.

**~*~3rd person's POV~*~**

"Echizen Ryoma and Fuji Kikyo. Who are they?" Shiba asked her male teammate, following both first years with her gaze as they headed home alongside Momoshiro.

"Right. That boy…is probably…'Samurai Junior'. And the girl…a Prima Ballerina," Inoue tried to give each of them a nickname, remembering the prodigies' playing styles. Shiba gained a confused expression the moment he stopped talking, tilting her head sideways while she kept on watching the kids' retreating forms.

"They sure are," Ryuzaki-sensei chuckled by their side, shaking her head as she too watched the retreating group.

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

Momoshiro, Ryoma, and I continued walking until we were out of the school campus, turning left the moment we crossed the gates. We walked in silence, simply enjoying each others company. Momo-senpai was walking beside his bicycle as he held it by its handle, the gnash of the wheels' chains being the only sound that was heard apart from our footsteps.

And it was then that I saw it…canned heaven…

I let out a light laugh as I rushed over to the vending machine standing a few feet away from us, leaving my two friends blinking in confusion at me. Once I was standing in front of it, I pulled out enough money to buy two sodas, putting the coins inside the machine. I then joyfully pressed the button under the image of a grape Ponta can two times, before a can rolled out of the opening, quickly followed by another one. I took both of them and skipped happily over to both boys, who were still looking at me shocked, standing on the very same spot I had left them.

"Here!" I said as I tossed one of the cans to Ryoma, who caught it without a second thought. "Um, would you like something to drink, Momo-senpai?" I then asked the taller boy standing in front of me to my left, showing him my closed can to emphasize. I didn't buy anything to him because I didn't know what his favorite drink was, or if he wanted one to begin with.

"Nah, I'm just fine," he replied with a sheepish grin, as we all started to walk again. I skillfully opened my soda and took a big gulp from it, happily licking the grape flavor from my lips.

"Ah, I really needed this…" I said in content, taking another sip from the white and purple can. It fell silent after that, since Ryoma was too busy with his own can to even think about anything.

"So…I suppose you won the bet," Momo-senpai said, trying to start a conversation in order to break the silence surrounding us.

"Yep, I suppose," I answered him, skipping from time to time as we walked.

"Bet? What bet?" Ryoma suddenly asked, finally taking his attention off his Ponta to look at me.

"Um…I wanted to ask for a place in the boys' Ranking Tournament...it's difficult for people to take you seriously when you're a girl, so….um, I had to play against the Captain in order to do it," I finally told him with a small blush out of pure embarrassment, suddenly finding my grape Ponta much more interesting, not daring to look at him in the eye.

"Hn, mada mada dane, Kikyo-chan," he finally said, surprising me seeing as I had expected a very different reaction from him.

"Eh? You mean you're not angry at me?" I asked him dumb folded, turning my head to look at him walking by the other side of Momo-senpai since I was walking by his right.

"Huh? Why would I?" He asked me with a raised eyebrow, taking another sip from his Ponta.

"…It doesn't matter," I finally answered him with a delicate shrug of my shoulders, after thinking for the right thing to say.

"_It seems we can only think almost the same during a tennis match, ne?_" I sighed sadly and gulped down the rest of my grape Ponta, throwing the empty can in a trashcan on the corner of the street.

"Hey Kyo-chan, isn't that one your street?" I then heard Momo-senpai ask me while he pointed to our left, and indeed I could see my sister's bone-colored car parked somewhere in front of the houses located in the middle of the street.

"Un, it's the 4th house to the right," I informed, pointing to the middle-sized green colored house.

"Ah, lucky~ I live just a few blocks down," he told me as we crossed the street, following the sidewalk until we reached my house. Both of my friends followed me past the black short fence and to the front door. Once we were on the porch I turned around towards them with a big smile decorating my features.

"Thanks for walking me home. Would you like to come in?" I asked them politely, motioning to the door behind me with my left hand.

"Sorry, but I have to take care of my siblings," Momo-senpai declined while shaking his head, while Ryoma used no body language as he stared at me.

"I have to practice," he excused himself too, his gaze starting to wonder all around him, apparently inspecting the simple house.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Say hello to your brother from my part, okay?" Momo-senpai waved as he turned around and started to leave, Ryoma right at his heels.

"Un, thanks again guys!" I waved at them goodbye before opening the door and stepping in.

"Tadaima!" I greeted as I slipped off my brown shoes, still keeping my white racquet bag over my shoulder.

"We're in the kitchen, honey," I heard my mother's voice to my right, and headed towards said place just to find her and my big sister.

"I'm glad to see you're okay. Syusuke was worrying to death," Yumiko told me as she helped mom make tonight's dinner.

"I was never in danger, Nee-san," I told her with a sweat drop, still standing by the opened wall.

"Indeed. So, how was your first day? And don't ever do that to me again," I then heard my brother's relieved voice from behind me, whining a bit when he added his afterthought, and I whipped around to find him smiling at me from over the living room across the hall.

"It was pretty good, but tiring. I made new friends, like Momo-senpai. And I also re-encountered Ryoma-kun," I told him with a smile of my own, making his smile to grow wider, if possible.

"You met Momoshiro, eh? I knew you would find out who was the missing Regular," he told me as he walked past me and into the kitchen, ready to help my mom and sister with cooking as well.

"So? Did you enter the Ranking Tournament?" My mom asked me curiously, turning her head to see me over her shoulder.

"Well, that depends if Ryuzaki-sensei keeps her part of the deal," I shrugged, turning around and heading for the stairs. "I'll be taking a bath!" I called over to them, heading towards my room and closing the door behind me.

I walked over to my desk and leaned my racquet holder against one of its sides, before going into my bathroom to prepare the bathtub. I only like to use it for special occasions, but today I really believe my poor body needs a relaxing treatment with bubbles and refreshing salts. It was because of this little body that I actually stood up against Miyuka-buchou today…it deserves a prize.

**~*~3rd person's POV~*~**

"Ryoma-san how was the school's clubs?" Ryoma's cousin, Nanako, asked the younger boy from outside the bathroom door while carrying a small pile of clean towels.

Ryoma had arrived at his house not even ten minutes ago and he had gone to take a shower first thing. Ryoma's Himalayan cat had followed her upstairs, wanting to know where Ryoma was, and entered through the semi-opened door by which vapor was escaping from the bathroom.

"Karupin, you can't come in," Ryoma scolded his beloved pet, turning around just to see Karupin sitting down near the door, trying to keep away from the water, watching him curiously. "I'm still far from done," Ryoma informed both his cat and his cousin, who was still waiting outside, as he resumed his task of washing the shampoo off his dark green hair.

Nanako shook her head with a small smile after hearing her cousin's statement, leaving the towels by the door and turning to walk back into the kitchen.

"Oh! I remember now! That girl…" She suddenly heard Ryoma exclaim in surprise. Every Echizen already new that Ryoma's memory wasn't one of the best, the only subject he could remember perfectly being tennis, so this kind of behaviors where not unknown in the residence.

What she didn't know was that he had actually been thinking about the two matches he experienced that same morning, which in turn had led him to the memory of the Kakinokizaka Tennis Tournament. He had defaulted that time because of a girl with long brown hair pulled back in two braids, that girl being Ryuzaki Sakuno. That girl was the one who had watched him play against Momoshiro…

Kikyo seemed to know her, maybe they weren't friends but they got along, though he knew Kikyo didn't like that other girl they met, the one who claimed to be Ryuzaki's friend. Ryoma shrugged to himself, not reminding that girl's name, and he actually could not care less. As long as Kikyo was there to help him go through that madhouse so that he could play tennis in peace, everything was going to be alright.

**~*~Kikyo's POV~*~**

After my relaxing hot bath, I quickly changed into my baby blue pajamas with kitty faces printed all over it. I combed my long lavender hair and put on my soft pink furry slippers. I had time to water my cactus before my mom called me over to eat, time that my brother used to tell us with full detail about the matches that had taken place during his tournament outside the school. But then they all had to turn against me, sending me to bed early, saying that tomorrow was going to be another long day. After saying my goodnights, I had gone over to my room once more to brush my teeth and get ready for bed.

So here I am right now, lying on my bed just staring at the ceiling above me. Though my body was screaming for sleep, my mind just kept on wandering in today's events. I wondered if Ryuzaki-sensei would actually be able to convince Tezuka-kun to let me play for the team. And if she did, how well was I going to play at the Ranking Tournament? Will my current knowledge be enough? I guess I'll have to practice extra hard for the next few days…maybe I'll even ask Syusuke to play with me…

A yawn finally escaped my mouth. I was losing the battle with my eyelids for keeping them opened. I sighed, knowing I couldn't stay awake for much longer, and turned around in my bed, pulled the covers closer to my face and snuggled into my pillow. It was just then that I noticed that Mr. Whiskers was missing, since I couldn't feel him in my arms. I dived under the covers and pulled out the worn out, brown spotted plush cat. My family had given it to me when I was still a baby, and my older brothers had named him that way because his face was of a light cream color, contrasting his long black whiskers. I hugged him close to my chest and sighed in content, finally closing my eyes and falling into a dreamless sleep.

The next day was surely going to be filled with surprises.


End file.
